SharkyTheBeaver
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CES Unveiled: Sphero reveals new apps to roll around in
The good folks at Orbotix, makers of the little roly-poly robot Sphero, were also in attendance at CES Unveiled last night, where they were showing off a number of new apps coming to add more functionality to the robotic ball. Sharky the Beaver was shown off a while ago, but it was on display last night as well, and it features the robot's complicated augmented reality system, where you can use the camera on your iOS device to spot Sphero, making it be displayed as something else (in this case, a cartoony beaver). Orbotix also told us about Nyan Cat Space Party, another app for the ball that's out right now, that allows users to control the famous Pop-Tart/cat hybrid with Sphero itself. And the last app we saw was an upcoming release called Zombie Rollers, where you can use the ball as a hand-held controller to roll a little character around to crush zombies. The game looked really fun, and Orbotix told us it should be available in January for free. We asked about sales figures for the little ball robot, but unfortunately, Orbotix didn't have any clear numbers to share, only telling us that there are "hundreds of thousands" of the balls out there in the world right now. And when we asked for other plans for the ball this year, the company's rep just explained that it's focusing on software development for the moment, both working on things like the augmented reality system for third-party developers to use in making games and apps, and working on its own mobile Sphero-enhanced software as well. So it seems like a catch-up year for Sphero -- now that the ball itself is out and available (you can buy it online for US$130, or find it at a number of big retailers like Target and even the Apple Store), the focus seems to be on building up the library of software you can use it with. That's good news for Sphero owners, and of course the more apps that become available, the more luck Orbotix will have in convincing new customers to get on a roll themselves.
Sphero's Augmented Reality Engine gets fully realized in Sharky the Beaver (video)
Been keeping up to date with the quirky robotic ball named Sphero? We've been wondering when its Augmented Reality Engine would finalize into a full-fledged app since we first witnessed it at E3 as a simple 2D tech demo. Well, today is the day that this Android and iOS-controlled ball makes its first official release steps into the world of AR -- the engine has grown up, powering Orbotix's latest free app, Sharky the Beaver. While the game itself is still admittedly silly and demo-like since we saw an early adaptation in August, there's no question that the AGR is now in a polished state. As a refresher, unlike other implementations that require a stationary marker, Sphero serves as one that can move around your area, while also relaying information about its position. The 3D character on screen rotates its directions as you spin Sphero, and, as you can see above, it even allows you to pick the ball up while it's being tracked. The frame-rate of tracking in the app itself looked very smooth, and it does an admirable job keeping track of the ball, even if it ends up off-screen. At that point, gameplay is limited to flicking cupcakes on the ground that Sharky goes to automatically, and there's no word on if and when we'll see the features shown off in the early version (namely, where the Sharky part of the name was actually a key element, as you chased people on-screen to get their cupcakes). All in all, we're more curious than anything to see what else the folks at Orbotix will come up with in the realm of AR -- for more in the meantime, check out our video hands-on after the break.
