Star Wars BB-8 robotic droid maker talks to ABC7 News

Katie Marzullo Image
ByKatie Marzullo KGO logo
Friday, September 4, 2015
Star Wars BB-8 robotic droid maker talks to ABC7 News
Adam Wilson, the chief scientist at Sphero, spoke with ABC7 News about the Star Wars BB-8 app-enabled Droid now hitting the market.

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- It is "Force Friday" for Star Wars fans. Lines formed before midnight Thursday evening full of shoppers waiting to get their hands on the latest toys just released from the new movie "Star Wars: The Force Awakens."

At the Disney Store in San Francisco, ABC7 News got a sneak peek at the hottest new toy - the BB-8 app-enabled Droid - and got a chance to talk to the co-inventor and chief scientist at Sphero, Adam Wilson.

Wilson says he "met with Bob Iger, he was like, 'Can you put a head on there?'"

Sphero was already making robot balls, but BB-8 is so much more.

"What I love the most about it is the little cuteness, like you think it's looking at you. The little eyes really bring it to life," Wilson says.

Wilson also showed us one of the coolest things it can do. He held up his smartphone, and looking through his smartphone at the toy, you can see augmented reality holograms.

San Francisco store stocks up on new 'Star Wars' toys

He explained, "When you look at the product through your phone, you use the camera to see it, it becomes something else and it projects messages... very secret Star Wars messages that you get to see."

Wilson says the BB-8 is not a toy, it is a robot. It retails for $150.

VIDEO: BB-8 App-Enabled Droid || Built by Sphero

The Walt Disney Company is the parent company of Disney Consumer Products, Lucasfilm, and this station.