BB8 Star Wars droid is real

A new Star Wars trailer is here and Sci-Fi geeks are giddy with excitement. Star Wars: The Force Awakens arrives this Christmas and the second teaser trailer gives us a glimpse of new characters, familiar voices and lots of action.

The trailers also introduce a new rolling droid called BB8, this is a real rolling robot prop created with technology from the company Sphero. The world saw BB8 live in action on stage during a presentation at Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim, California. During its adorable brief appearance, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy said “The technology behind this droid was possible because of a company discovered by Walt Disney president Bob Iger.” The company is Sphero, a startup tech company that Disney invested in. The company is known for making the Bluetooth connected robotic ball toys that are controlled by a smartphone app. The Sphero 2.0 costs $132 and it lights up, play games or you can get creative and have fun with your pets.

If you want a little BB8 right now you can find him as an emoji on Twitter, the social network created custom emojis when you use certain hash tags. So if you type hash tag #BB8 you’ll get a little droid or you can write the classic #C3PO and #Stormtrooper.