The Star Wars craze is on. In a few days, Star Wars: The Last Jedi will take over the box office, as expected. In line with the public’s massive anticipation, Disney and Lenovo have teamed up to bring the Star Wars: Jedi Challenges to all Star Wars fans who have always been dreaming of actually experiencing how to be a Jedi.
Star Wars: Jedi Challenges is an augmented reality product that will make that dream possible. Each set is comprising of a Lenovo Mirage AR headset, a tracking beacon, and a lightsaber controller. It can be used together with an updated and compatible smartphone.
The product was initially introduced to the public in the recent Force Friday II (September 1), a global celebration of the launch of new Star Wars products. It can run using an Android smartphone or an iPhone, though some versions of the operating system may not support the Jedi Challenge app, which is necessary to play the game.
The smartphone is placed into the front side of the headset and gets connected to an adapter to keep its charge throughout a game. An image is then reflected into the front screen to combine the app’s virtual images with the actual sight of the real world.
The lightsaber controller is patterned after the design of the lightsaber, which was used by Luke Skywalker, Anakin, and Rey in the movie series. Those who have actually tried the VR set instantly agrees that it is the coolest feature of the entire app-enabled virtual reality experience. This controller is used for manipulating commands and actions. The headset and lightsaber both use a tracking beacon, which is a small sphere used for tracking location.
“With Star Wars: Jedi Challenges, Lenovo and Disney are bringing Star wars to fans in ways they could previously only imagine,” said Lenovo Consumer PCs and Smart Devices Senior Vice President and General Manager Jeff Meredith. “Augmented Reality has always been an important part of Star Wars, and it’s exciting to bring these key moments to life by marrying Lenovo technology with Disney’s storytelling.
Star Wars: Jedi Challenges was put into a pre-order sale scheme in November. It is now available at select Toy Kingdom branches and Lenovo stores nationwide. The product’s introductory price is P14,999.