Sphero star wars droid app how to#
Sphero star wars droid app Bluetooth#

We recently watched Rogue One with BB-8 and additional information about Jyn came up on the app and he interacted like he recognised her, as well as cowering whenever a certain Darth Vader appeared. That's right, give Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens or Rogue One: A Star Wars Story for a spin, load up the accompanying BB-8 app and the little droid will interact with the movie, bleeping and blooping when familiar faces appear on the screen. Once downloaded and paired with your device there is a menu screen with four old options – Drive, Message, Patrol and Settings – and a few new ones that work exclusively with the Band like Force Training, Force Awareness and Combat Training.ĭrive is borrowed from the standard Sphero app and requires you to hold your phone in landscape mode while you control BB-8's movement with your left hand – it's not as fun to use as the Force Band, but it's a heck of a lot more practical.Īnother neat thing the Sphero BB-8 droid can do is watch the new Star Wars movies with you.

Sphero star wars droid app Bluetooth#

The app opens with a familiar Star Wars theme tune while it pairs to the droid via Bluetooth and though the initial setup takes a little longer than expected – the app actually loads BB-8's orientation data from the droid itself – the connection was stable. Still, despite a steep learning curve and a few mishaps while guiding BB-8 around the room, using the Force Band is a fun gimmick that re-invigorated my force-attuned heart. The problem, I think, lies with the gyroscope and accelerometer – they seem just tuned enough to get the job done but aren't anywhere near as accurate as they could be. (That's a Star Wars reference, not a legitimate claim, by the way.)

It took about two hours for me to really get the hang out it, and even now I doubt I could guide it through Beggar's Canyon without running into a Womp Rat or two. Unfortunately, it's a bit harder than that. A few months back, Sphero released a short clip of a Hayden Christensen look alike playing with the toy, making it seem like controlling the droid is as intuitive as letting the force flow through you. Now all of this comes with a caveat: mastering the Force Band isn't easy. Four is a bit limited, sure, but it's enough to get the job done. The Band understands four commands – move away from you, move towards you, rotate and stop all together. Movement, as I explained earlier, is all processed by the gyroscope and accelerometer inside the Band itself, which can be worn on either wrist. Now, there have been any number of children's toys in the past that have allowed you some semblance of control, but few of them live up to the joy you'll experience while using BB-8 and hearing Obi-Wan's voice as he explains your menu options.

Sphero star wars droid app how to#

At some point we'll need to talk technical specs – how to get the BB-8 Sphero up and rolling around, what the app is like and how much this little novelty is going to set you back – but first let's talk about how magical it is to actually use your hand to control an object from the Star Wars universe.