We learned about Orbotix and its product, Sphero™, a smartphone-controlled robotic ball, when they signed on as a sponsor of Plutopia 2011. When we saw the video of Sphero™ in action (below), we just had to talk to the inventor — Ian Bernstein, CTO for the company, who created Sphero™ and founded the company with Chief Software Architect Adam Wilson.
You can see a demo of Sphero™ at Plutopia 2011: The Future of Play, 6:30PM March 14 during SXSW Interactive.
If you look up videos online of humanoid robots, they fall over a lot….We really like the sphere because it’s so simple. It’s one of the most basic shapes, and one of the most basic toys, gaming devices. It’s such a simple shape, but the electronics and firmware inside to control it is actually insanely difficult… but it’s awesome that a ball can’t fall over, that makes it nice mechanically. So very simple, yet mechanically complex.
Here’s Ian:
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