Disney and Kano Partner for Star Wars Motion Sensor Kit

Disney has partnered with Kano, a company that makes coding kits for kids, on a new Star Wars motion sensor kit.

The Bluetooth-enabled motion sensor includes a circular case, printed circuit board with nine LEDs, and two tops that contain Rebel Alliance and Galactic Empire iconography. Once assembled, it can be used to control lightsabers, Porgs and other Star Wars paraphernalia in a companion app that’s compatible with Windows 10 PCs, Macs, iPads and Amazon Fire HD 10 tablets.

Former Apple Engineer Unveils Project Erasmus

Project Erasmus is one of the coolest things I’ve seen in a while. Created by former Apple engineer Bob Burrough, it’s a UI concept where elements on the screen are lit by the environment. For example, software toggles and menu bars develop drop shadows and highlights based on light sources in the room. He does this by attaching an Olloclip wide angle lens to capture the light, then the software renders that light as a scene. This is real-time rendering and it makes elements on the screen appear as physical objects.