Oh how I loved the BB-8 from Sphero when it came out. I loved it so much I filmed a really bad YouTube video in 2015 declaring my undying love to it. You can check that out here. But the love story now gets to continue. So this week, there aren’t any fancy reviews, innovative tech or, most importantly, because I realise I reference them just way too much, no gimmicks. This week there is a love story like no other… other than the broken glassware all over the house…. not 100% sure that is healthy.
These past few weeks I’ve been playing with the new BB-8 Special Edition from Sphero. The Star Wars droid that bridges the gap between mere mortals and force wielding jedi. Not to be confused with the regular Sphere BB-8 droid, no. The poor BB-8 housed within a special composite metal (aluminium), space age material (foam) beautifully (really is) crafted box is BATTLE-worn. Bearing remarkable similarities to the actual BB-8 we all know and love from Star Wars episode VII and contained with an unassuming (see: rad looking) Star Wars themed band, the power of the force lies in wait for a worthy user (not me).
No, really this BB-8 is controlled completely by the force.
While you can use the app to control your robot, why would you?
The whole selling point of this particular BB-8 is that you use the Forceband included to “control” the droid. But the Forceband does a lot more than that. After installing the Forceband app on your phone you can pair your Forceband to your droid. But the band lets you do a lot of other things too such as playing cool mini-games that let you shoot lasers out of your fingers (legit, best time) and detect objects using the force.
But once your BB-8 is paired your Forceband the app is basically not needed anymore, unless you like running around pewpewing all the things (which I unashamedly did for an extended period of time). After pairing your BB-8 and being told to stop acting like a child, it’s time to unlock the force within. With your force band strapped on your arm and set to ‘control your droid’ you are able to completely and utterly destroy your house while BB-8 looks up at you expectantly. As you do get the hang of the gestures eventually, I highly recommended wide open spaces without small gaps that BB-8 will hone in on and vanish into.
The BB-8 with force band is rad and is actually a really cool gift or just an expensive decoration – because it looks pretty epic too. Considering even I managed to master the force (you can watch the video proof here) I’m confident anyone will be able to. If not it will keep you entertained for many hours as you flap your arms around while BB-8 chimes curiously at you… and for that alone I can’t recommend it enough!
