BB-8 instantly won our hearts as the newest astromech droid from the “Star Wars” universe. A real life, rolling, spherical BB-8 by Sphero quickly became one of the most wanted items to come out of the “Star Wars” merchandise and marketing force.
Now, Sphero has announced that BB-8 owners can get a new wearable gadget to play with: The Force Band – a motion control sensor allowing users to move BB-8 with simple hand gestures – as if they are adept Force users!
Sphero was able to give a demonstration of the new hardware at CES in Las Vegas where they had a little BB-8 rushing and rolling around with just a wave of a hand rather than sliding fingers over a control pad on a smartphone. According to it, the ultra-sensitive gyroscopic motion sensors that BB-8 is equipped with enable it to detect even the most subtle of movements from the wearable.
Users will also be able to create pre-programmed gestures to make custom-moves for BB-8 to be able to maneuver more deftly around obstacles, and even control the little droid's head movements!
Just recently, a group of students in Taiwan was able to program their own wearable to control drones in flight. The Force Band by Sphero will allow you to control BB-8 at a distance using cool, Jedi-like movements.
Sphero has yet to release pricing details for the new droid and wearable, which will be made available later this year. However, this is good news for collectors who want to own Sphero's BB-8 and don't have compatible smartphones to control it with.
The company also announced at CES that they will also be releasing a new “battle damage” edition of BB-8 with artistically painted dust and scratches to really look like he's been on a few adventures around the galaxy.
Check out this video of the possibilities you can do with BB-8 and the new Force Band from Sphero:
Finally, a real-life BB-8 that doesn't need a smartphone to control! This is indeed the droid we are looking for!
