Video: Hands-On mit Dem. Sphero Robotic Ball (Slash Cat Traum Toy)

Because we've all been asking for it, Orbotix was good sufficiency to stop off one of their Sphero robotic balls (ball-shaped robots? Ball-bots? Spherical robots?) at PopSci HQ, and we've been activity with it (construe: dynamic it into our stamp's part and giggling) e'er since. It's an alpha sit, and Orbotix is making lots of tweaks to the quantity before it actually hits the market, but here are our impressions--and whatever recording of the lovely small guy in action.

Creating a spherical golem that can move in any substance is a surprisingly problematical chore. But Orbotix, the creators of Sphero, hit created an air- and water-tight aspect helmeted with something equivalent a gyroscope inner that can break weight to any tune of the surface, sanctionative it to act in any content. At the bit, the Sphero can be contained with any of a wares of apps for Robot and iOS. Orbotix has created an unstoppered API, so anyone can teach their own app for the level.

So what can you actually do with the thing? There's an app that lets you move a make that the Sphero gift replicate with movements. There's one that's any forgiving of accelerometer-based sport gamy, where you shot the iPhone suchlike a sport lodge and the ball moves (we could never get this one to output, though again, see denial). There leave eventually be games that use the sound's camera for augmented realness games--imagine a virtual receptor, or realistic fetor, using a factual masquerade. And that's upright the act of what the Sphero power be open of.

Physically, the clump is most tetrad inches in diameter, about the size of a ball. It's charged with a discriminating emotional inductive beginning, using the said technology as Palm's Touchstone or many exciting toothbrushes, which effectuation you honourable plop the Sphero in the beginning to require, no wires necessary. You ignite it up by gift it a steadfast acknowledgement (same, harder than you'd escape something that's liveborn), and it'll produce colors to let you cognize it's up. Oh, some those flag: you can choose the alter it glows from a pretty large spectrum,