(Left) Sphero and control app (Right) 3D controller/ augmented reality app (via Orbotix)
At this years (2012) E3 Expo Orbotix was on-hand to reintroduce their robotic ball Sphero with all new app that transforms the ball into an interesting type of controller for gaming. For those of you who don’t know what Sphero is; it’s a robotic polycarbonate ball that houses a multi-axis gyro with an accelerometer that’s powered by lithium polymer batteries (inductively charged) that can be controlled wirelessly much like an RC car only by using your smartphone.
This is done through a Bluetooth enabled link. Orbotix has taken their robotic sphere and created some rather clever apps that turn the ball into an interesting 3D-type gaming controller which they demonstrated at E3 recently. One of these games that incorporate Sphero is known as Exile which looks like a cross between Galaga and Asteroids. The player uses a tablet or smartphone as the games monitor while maneuvering the ship is done by twisting and rolling the robotic ball which provides 3600 of movement. Shooting is done automatically. However, using ‘super weapons’ requires the user to shake the ball. The fun continued on with a demonstration of what Orbotix calls their ‘Sphero Augmented Reality Engine’ app that lets players use the ball as an avatar for future game applications. The mobile devices camera captures and tracks the ball, and it replaces its image with that of an avatar (a dragon was used in the demonstration) which can then be placed in a completely different environment (using Unity as a 3D engine) on-screen without any fiduciaries such as add-in cards or marker guides. This app actually lets you turn the physical environment into any type of gaming augmented reality where you can interact with it directly through Sphero! Sadly, the app is still in development with the SDK being released for game developers sometime in the future. Still, you can download other games such as Last Fish, Sphero Drive and the popular Sphero Chromo for iOS and Android devices (available through Orbotix website) to pass the time while waiting for the AR games to hit the street (literally).
Cabe