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You can use the Force to control this Star Wars toy

No, it isn't a toy. It's the droid you've always been looking for.

06 January 2016

We adored Sphero's miniature BB-8 when it trundled onto shelves last autumn.

It was the perfect marriage of the toy company's roving robotic spheres and the soon-to-be-huge companion droid of The Force Awakens - a controllable tennis ball of blips and whirs with a swivelling head.

Yet Sphero has managed to up their game, incorporating yet more of the Star Wars narrative with the inclusion of a 'Force Band'.

The size of a regular watch, the band contains an accelerometer that senses your arm's movements and transmits them to the BB-8 (or, if you're eight-years-old, gives you Force powers): arm extended, palm up, and BB-8 will approach you. Turn your palm down and it'll roll away.

Start waving your arm about in your best Sir Alec Guinness impression and it'll follow your commands/gestures - you'll be able to learn specific 'moves' to get BB-8 to carry out nods and beeps.

The Force Band is expected to go on sale later this year, with more details to arrive next month via the major US Toy Fair event.

No, it isn't a toy. It's the droid you've always been looking for.