You’ve seen Rovio hackery before, but not like this. Not with MIND CONTROL and Skype both involved. Emotiv Systems’ headset is used to control the Rovio, with the signal being carried to the robot over Skype.
Digging around on the FCC site can uncover some truly weird things. Exhibit A this morning: WowWee’s FlyTech Skyhopper (no, not that Skyhopper).
The Rovio is the most promising webcam-wielding robot out there that, sadly, we don’t exploit because of conscience. But one modder has tweaked the otherwise pervy spybot to become a brave and loyal firefighter.
Like the Rovio, WowWee’s Spyball is a Wi-Fi-enabled spycam robot. But it transforms from sorta conspicuous ball to spycam for surreptitious shots. You can connect ad-hoc via Wi-Fi or over the internet.
WowWee’s Cinemin pico projectors fit any situation you’d be pico projecting in. The Swivel is a candybar that angles 90 degrees; the Stick’s tinier and takes SD cards, and the Station’s an iPod dock station.
WowWee actually imbues its new robots with some personality: Joebot is dancing rhythm robot that responds to beats (he beatboxes!), while the Roborover explorer starts out shy and gets bolder over time. Cute.
Everyone wants love, companionship and contact. Those who can’t get it from humans can turn to the latest crop of hot toy robots: Wall-E in three sizes, WowWee’s Rovio, Femisapien and Mr. Personality, the dino D-Rex, multi-talented Elmo Live and Sony’s enchantingly personable Rolly music player. Each exudes a desire to be your loyal friend from every noisy servo and glowing LED. But which should you choose?
If you have enjoyed using the built-in iPhone application on WowWee’s three-wheelin’ Rovio robot, then head on over to the App Store because “Rovio Driver” looks like a major upgrade. The free app adds head position / rotation controls and the camera view appears to be much larger than the standard version. Damn, I might have to put this one on the Christmas list myself. [Robo Community via I4U News]