1 00:00:18,000 --> 00:00:23,840 This is one of those products where it's hard to say if this qualifies for more 2 00:00:21,760 --> 00:00:28,800 the tech channel or the cat channel. This is the Sphero from Orotics. And 3 00:00:26,560 --> 00:00:33,760 basically what it is is if you check out the green one that's out there in the 4 00:00:31,760 --> 00:00:38,239 the track that they've set up. That's the one that I'm controlling with this 5 00:00:36,120 --> 00:00:41,280 iPod touch. And I'm just going to bring it around back to us. Hello everybody at 6 00:00:39,840 --> 00:00:46,160 the Sparro booth. We're about to start another Sparro race. Um, this is John 7 00:00:43,920 --> 00:00:49,920 from Sparro and I'd like him to explain just a little bit what the heck is going 8 00:00:48,320 --> 00:00:54,320 on with this thing. How does how do I set this up and get this working? 9 00:00:52,879 --> 00:01:00,239 So Sphere is a smartphone control robotic wall. It works on Android and iOS. 10 00:00:57,600 --> 00:01:03,280 And how work it is you you shake it to wake it up and it's going to blink three 11 00:01:01,760 --> 00:01:08,640 colors. You connect to it over Bluetooth and then you can drive it around. We have over 20 different apps and games 12 00:01:06,960 --> 00:01:11,680 that you can use either control sphero or you can actually use sphero as a 13 00:01:10,080 --> 00:01:15,439 controller and tilt it in your hand to turn around. 14 00:01:14,159 --> 00:01:21,840 In addition, we have some new augmented reality games that have just come out like Sharky the Beaver and uh the 15 00:01:19,200 --> 00:01:26,240 Rolling Dead which we just announced. Um do you want to drive in the race? Uh no, 16 00:01:24,159 --> 00:01:29,680 no, I'm okay. Let's uh let's sort of let's sort of focus on how you actually 17 00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:33,520 manage to race multiples of these things at a time. How the heck do you know 18 00:01:31,280 --> 00:01:36,560 which one you're connecting to? Um, so when you connect to it, you can 19 00:01:35,040 --> 00:01:41,360 actually bring up the uh Bluetooth screen here. And 20 00:01:38,439 --> 00:01:44,640 uh there we go. So you can see there's a bunch of different spheros like blue, 21 00:01:42,720 --> 00:01:48,079 yellow, blue, green, red, red, purple, orange, red, white, purple, white. Uh so 22 00:01:46,880 --> 00:01:53,200 when you wake up your sphere, it's going to flash the threecolor code and you know which one to connect to. So if you 23 00:01:51,119 --> 00:01:56,960 and your brother both get a sphere on Christmas morning, you'll know which one 24 00:01:54,560 --> 00:02:00,320 you need to connect to. Now, how durable is this thing? Is it appropriate as a 25 00:01:58,560 --> 00:02:04,320 cat toy? I mean, can I throw it for my dog even? Oh, yes. My dog chews on it 26 00:02:02,799 --> 00:02:08,720 all the time. In fact, I can actually take it uh stand on it on the floor and 27 00:02:06,880 --> 00:02:13,440 I'm putting all my weight on that one foot and I'm not crushing it. And uh you 28 00:02:11,360 --> 00:02:16,560 can actually uh just throw it out there and if you go back to the home screen 29 00:02:15,120 --> 00:02:21,680 there and relaunch the app, you'll be able to drive it around just fine up 30 00:02:18,720 --> 00:02:25,360 there. Wow. Very cool stuff. Okay, so how much 31 00:02:23,440 --> 00:02:31,680 does one of these cost? Uh retails for $129. It's available at the Apple store 32 00:02:29,040 --> 00:02:34,640 and Target. Now, do I have to control it with the Joyad or do I have other 33 00:02:33,200 --> 00:02:39,920 options? So, if you press this button down here, you can actually switch it into tilt mode. So, now you hold it 34 00:02:38,080 --> 00:02:42,959 flat, it's going to stay still, but as you tilt it, it's going to drive in 35 00:02:41,200 --> 00:02:48,000 whichever direction you tilt it. So, unlike an RC car, there isn't an obvious 36 00:02:45,440 --> 00:02:52,959 front of the Sphero. So, how does it know that when I tilt it this way, it 37 00:02:50,239 --> 00:02:55,760 needs to move away from me? Uh, so when you first start playing with it, you 38 00:02:54,319 --> 00:02:59,760 actually have to aim it. So, you press this button right here. I think ours is 39 00:02:58,160 --> 00:03:03,440 behind the pillar. All right. So, we got all our Spheros on the left. Little blue 40 00:03:01,360 --> 00:03:06,159 light comes on. We point that blue light towards us and then Sparro knows where 41 00:03:04,800 --> 00:03:09,519 we're standing in relation. Put this little blue light this way cuz we are 42 00:03:08,080 --> 00:03:14,879 going clockwise. All right. Thanks, guys. So, this was the Spar from Ortics. 43 00:03:12,640 --> 00:03:20,319 Don't miss any of our CES 2013 coverage. And as always, don't forget to subscribe 44 00:03:16,319 --> 00:03:22,159 to Linus Tech Tips. You have a 45 00:03:20,319 --> 00:03:27,519 We actually didn't make it away from the robotics booth just yet. that they have 46 00:03:24,400 --> 00:03:29,280 an augmented reality game with their 47 00:03:27,519 --> 00:03:33,360 little ball device here that doesn't look like a ball anymore at all. In 48 00:03:31,200 --> 00:03:38,239 fact, it looks well, if you look down at the ground, it looks like a ball. But if 49 00:03:36,400 --> 00:03:43,599 you look at the screen that's taking a feed from the iPad being held by Fabitio 50 00:03:40,720 --> 00:03:48,159 here, it is a beaver that is running around on the ground. So you guys are 51 00:03:45,400 --> 00:03:52,720 replacing with the camera on the iPad, the ball with this beaver model. Yeah, 52 00:03:50,799 --> 00:03:56,319 that's correct. Yep. Yeah. So, we're we're tracking the ball in every frame 53 00:03:54,640 --> 00:04:00,720 and using it to figure out where the ball is, where the camera is, and that 54 00:03:58,480 --> 00:04:04,640 allows us to draw any kind of 3D content we want. In this app, we just draw over 55 00:04:02,799 --> 00:04:08,480 the ball, but uh we have other apps where we draw other objects in. Zombies 56 00:04:06,799 --> 00:04:11,840 come up out of the ground, coins to collect, all sorts of things. Now, you 57 00:04:10,400 --> 00:04:16,239 showed us here. Do you want to just turn yourself so that uh Oh, yeah. I guess 58 00:04:14,159 --> 00:04:19,600 here. Just bring the There you go. There you go. So, now you can see what he 59 00:04:17,600 --> 00:04:22,479 looks like. He actually gets bigger as the ball gets closer. Can you take him a 60 00:04:21,199 --> 00:04:26,479 little bit further away from us so that we can see how he Yeah, there we go. So 61 00:04:25,040 --> 00:04:31,680 we can see how he gets smaller as he gets further away. So you have a game where you can chuck cupcakes to him and 62 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:35,040 you can fling them quite a distance in order to try to feed Mr. Sharky over 63 00:04:33,759 --> 00:04:40,160 there. Is that correct? Yeah, that's correct. All right. So guys, very very 64 00:04:37,680 --> 00:04:43,840 cool demo. It goes beyond just sort of, you know, racing it around on a track. I 65 00:04:42,160 --> 00:04:47,600 mean, this is more of a tech demo at this point, but you guys have plans to 66 00:04:46,080 --> 00:04:51,600 continue to develop this in the future. Yeah, definitely. Over the next year, we're going to build this out. I mean, 67 00:04:50,080 --> 00:04:55,360 the gameplay opportunities are really huge. You know, you can multiplayer, 68 00:04:53,759 --> 00:05:00,080 replace it with, you know, any kind of avatar you want. Uh, drop static objects 69 00:04:58,560 --> 00:05:04,639 in your living room and go visit them later. It's sort of crazy. Lots of lots 70 00:05:01,840 --> 00:05:08,320 of lots of opportunity for innovation. Very cool stuff. Guys, don't miss any of 71 00:05:06,240 --> 00:05:12,360 our CES 2013 coverage. Make sure you're subscribed to Linus Tech Tips.