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You’ll Soon Be Able to Control Your Sphero BB-8 With the Force (aka Motion-Detecting Wristband)

bb8 the force

Remember those BB-8 Sphero toys we all collectively freaked out about last year? Yeah. Wasn’t that great? Anyway, Sphero looks to improve on their design by adding gesture recognition technology the Force, thus allowing you to essentially control your little buddy with a flick of your wrist much meditation and focus.

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In all seriousness, the prototype wristbands containing the little gyroscopic motors that detect your directions (midichlorians?) are just that: still prototypes. The project is in development, but folks at CES this year were able to check out the technology firsthand.

In addition to the motion controls, a new model of the BB-8 Sphero is set to come out, mainly featuring cosmetic changes. Specifically, they’re adding “battle-scarring,” which I guess means the scuffs and scratches that come from rolling around Jakku so much. You should check out the full preview over at Gizmodo, which includes a look at both the wristbands and the new model.

The wristband accessory will be sold in a bundle with new BB-8 droids, but if you already own a BB-8 (you lucky nerf herder), don’t worry; you’ll be able to buy the wristband individually and pair it with your BB-8. Who said you can’t teach an old droid new tricks?

bb8 rolling

(via Fashionably Geek)

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Author
Jessica Lachenal
Jessica Lachenal is a writer who doesn’t talk about herself a lot, so she isn’t quite sure how biographical info panels should work. But here we go anyway. She's the Weekend Editor for The Mary Sue, a Contributing Writer for The Bold Italic (thebolditalic.com), and a Staff Writer for Spinning Platters (spinningplatters.com). She's also been featured in Model View Culture and Frontiers LA magazine, and on Autostraddle. She hopes this has been as awkward for you as it has been for her.

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