For those that may somehow be oblivious to the Star Wars marketing blitz happening around them, today is #ForceFriday. A great opportunity to spend money on a variety of Star Wars licensing products. Don’t worry, you’ll be able to find these products for years and years to come and you absolutely do not have to purchase anything today.
One absolute gem, is the BB-8 Sphero that went on sale today. As reported earlier this year, Sphero’s tech was actually used for the real, practical, BB-8 that we will see on-screen later this year when Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens premieres on December 18.
@LanceUlanoff posted a great deep-dive into the technology of the real BB-8 for Mashable.
Along with being a clever little rolling toy to annoy your pets (and co-workers), there is what appears to be, a very nice augmented reality (AR) companion experience in the app. AR has been around for years and used in many marketing experiences, but most of them have faded quickly from memory. Watch the video on Sphero’s website and you’ll see that this experience mimics the holographic projection we’ve come to associate with BB-8’s older cousin, R2-D2. I’m curious to see where they take this. Since it’s an app, it can constantly be updated.I hope they use the app to create a constantly evolving experience. One that introduces new content leading up to the movie’s premiere and onward throughout the rest of this round of the franchise.
Happy #ForceFriday.