We know that Star Wars is one of the most popular movie
franchises in the world. It's so popular, so you can find Star Wars' trinkets
everywhere and in many forms. Call it R2-D2 robot; you can get it in many
merchandise forms such as key chains, bags, jars or even dustbins.
But in the new series that will be aired in December,
apparently there is a new robot which is considered cuter than the R2-D2. Named
BB-8, this round-bodied robot can be seen in the trailers of The Force Awakens.
The fans of Star Wars immediately fall in love with this robot and start to
look for souvenirs in the form of BB-8.
Although The Force Awakens hasn't released, but Disney as
the holder of the Star Wars franchise seems to have a surprise for fans of
BB-8. Disney works together with the entertainment robots creator, Sphero, to
bring Sphero BB-8 to public.
Sphero BB-8 is a robot toy that can be asked to patrol the
home or just play around with it. This robot is made to satisfy the fans'
obsession to become the owners of the BB-8. To see its funny behavior that
previously could only be enjoyed in front of the wide screen.
Sphero has been long enough offering its robot toys, but
BB-8 is not simply a limited version of Sphero's robot, the developer team
claims that they have spent 10 months to make the BB-8 live! They remodel the
electronic components inside the robot so that the distance can reach about 30
meter.
Sphero BB-8 can be controlled using a smartphone or tablet
(Android and iOS) that's connected via Bluetooth. It can understand simple
voice commands such as "Go forward" and so on. Or users can also
enable automatic patrol mode, where Sphero will wander by itself while issuing
funny voice.
The head of Sphero BB-8 is actually only a decorative, it
means that there's no camera module that serves as vision sensor for this cute
robot. To recognize the surroundings, BB-8 utilizes a series of sensors such as
an accelerometer and a gyroscope, but this won't prevent it from hitting the
wall.
At the same time, the Sphero team creates a special magnet
mechanism so that the robot's head can follow the robot's body and won't fall
when the BB-8 moves.
Another interesting feature offered by Sphero BB-8 is the
hologram message. Well, not an actual hologram, but augmented reality content
on smartphone. When you point the smartphone's camera to BB-8, then the robot
will seem like projecting blue hologram on the smartphone's screen.
Even though the Sphero BB-8 is only a toy, but this cute
robot will certainly attract the attention of Star Wars fans. The Sphero BB-8
is offered at a price of $ 150, and will be sold through Sphero online store
(store.sphero.com), and also in the retail stores such as Apple Store.
Perhaps the price is fairly expensive for a toy, but it
doesn't stop the Star Wars fans to buy it, reportedly the Sphero BB-8 has been
sold out in Tokyo.