Sphero robo-ball: the smart ball you control with your smartphone

By Amir Iliaifar Updated November 22, 2011

Not since sixteenth century Mexico and the invention of the brilliant, yet simple, ball in a cup has the traditional ball gone through such an evolution. However, it looks like the modern day ball is aiming to take that leap in technology even further thanks to Orbotix and its versatile Sphero robotic ball.

Part ball, part robot, Sphero is a translucent white ball that you control with your smartphone via Bluetooth. But don’t let the simple ball shape fool you, it’s so much more. Once connected to your smarphone (either Android or iOS) you can download and install apps that allow you to really interact with Sphero in many different ways: from a drawing app that has the ball following a line you sketch onscreen, to a golfing app that utilizes your phone like a virtual putting wedge, but don’t worry about water hazards because Sphero is also waterproof, so taking the fun to a pool or the beach is a snap.

Want your Sphero to stand out from the sea of others, or maybe you just want to play with the cool color changing app? Well, you can because Spero even light up thanks to an internal LED, which is perfect for some glowing nighttime fun. Plus, Orbotix is aiming to let third-party developers develop new apps for its API, which will hopefully keep the ball (and fun) rolling.

For a quick video of the Sphero in action, click here.

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Former Digital Trends Contributor

Associate Automotive Section Editor for Digital Trends, Amir Iliaifar covers the ever increasing cross-section between tech…

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