Darren QuickDecember 13, 201021st Century ball game: the smartphone-controllable Sphero

Rendering of Sphero, the smartphone-controllable ball

When it comes to toys there is none more basic than the humble ball. Depictions of ball games have been found on ancient Egyptian monuments, while ball games were also popular among the ancient Greeks and Romans. This enduring popularity has seen ball games remain popular the world over to the present day. We’ve seen a number of products that have brought modern technology to balls, such as the sOccket and Speedsensor. The latest to join the list is Sphero – a ball that can be controlled with a smartphone via Bluetooth.

Sphero, which was first unveiled as a prototype by Orbotix back in June, measures 74 mm (2.9 in) in diameter and is charged using an inductive charger. Once paired to an iOS or Android smartphone, it can be controlled by tilting your phone in the direction you want it to roll and opening up the ball to a whole new variety of interactive games.

Orbotrix has devised a number of games that can be played with Sphero, including navigating a maze laid out on the floor and a Sumo game, which is the first app developed for the ball. With it, two users can throw their balls on a table and try to knock each other off. The app also includes an onscreen component with online stats, profiles, damage and powerups. This provides the possibility for customized games where balls might sustain “damage” and roll slower, or a powerup could reverse the opponent’s controls for a few seconds.

Aside from the games Orbotrix plans to produce, it is also opening up the APIs for the ball to allow app developers with no hardware knowledge to build their own games or applications. Suggestions include a golf game where a swipe on the phone’s touchscreen acts as a hit to send the ball rolling around a course mapped out around the house or office, and a curling game where the player physically rolls the ball and then brushes the touchscreen to try and hit a target.

Orbotrix will be displaying the Sphero at CES 2011, so we’ll be sure take a closer look.

Via Oh Gizmo!

21世紀的球類運動：智能手機控制的Sphero 二十一世紀球游戲：智能手機控制的sphero

渲染下，智能手機控球

玩玩具的時候有沒有更基本的不起眼的球。球類運動的描述已在古埃及遺跡的發現，而在古希臘人和羅馬人的球類運動也很受歡迎。這種經久不衰的人氣已經看到了世界各地的足球比賽至今仍很受歡迎。我們已經看到了一些，帶來了現代科技球產品，如sOccket和速度。最新加入的列表是球–球可以通過藍牙與智能手機控制。

球，這是首次推出一個原型的orbotix早在六月，措施74毫米（2.9英寸）直徑和充電使用感應充電器。一旦配對的iOS或Android智能手機，它可以通過傾斜你的手機在你渴望的方向滾開放球到一個全新的各種互動游戲控制。

orbotrix已經制定了一個游戲，可以玩球，包括走迷宮放在地板上，相撲比賽，這是開發的球的第一個應用程序。有了它，用戶可以把他們的球扔在一張桌子上，試著把對方的球打下來。該應用程序還包括一個屏幕組件在線統計、型材、損傷和道具。這提供了可能性的定制游戲，球會受到“傷害”，卷慢，或電能逆轉對手的控制幾秒鐘。

除了游戲orbotrix計劃生產，這也是開放的API允許應用程序開發者的球沒有硬件知識來構建自己的游戲或應用程序。建議包括一個高爾夫游戲，在手機的觸摸屏作為將球左右滾動過程映射出周圍的房子或辦公室打一拳和冰壺比賽，球員的身體滾動球然后刷觸摸屏試圖襲擊目標。

orbotrix將顯示球在CES 2011上，所以我們一定會仔細看看。