Sure, you can probably do a good R2-D2 impression without building yourself a fancy helmet, with just a few whistles and clicks. But what if you could have a helmet that “translated” your own voice into Droidspeak, and what if the helmet also “translated” Droidspeak back into English?
In the world of Star Wars, the beeps and boops droids like R2-D2 or BB-8 make are known as binary (AKA “Droidspeak”, because this is Star Wars and even the tiniest things are categorised and named). These helmets by Minimum Effective Dose simply parrot out those sounds from the movie whenever you speak into the attached microphone. They’re putting “translation” in quotes for a reason — the helmets don’t actually do any translation, they just play droid sounds when they detect talking.
It’s basic, but it gets really cool when you actually have two helmets linked to each other. While everyone else just hears your droid whistles when you speak, the person with the other helmet hears your unfiltered voice. It essentially becomes a two-way walkie-talkie, disguised as droid noises to any would-be eavesdroppers.
If you want to have the most elaborate and geeky private conversation of your own, Minimum Effective Dose posted instructions for how to build your own droid helmet over on Hackster. Be warned though, they’re a bit tricky to put together if you don’t have a bit of DIY and tech knowhow beforehand.
Header Image Credit: C-3PO, R2-D2 and BB-8 from a Force Awakens O2 promo.