Forget CES’s internet fridges, self-driving cars and smart bras, the coolest thing this year has to be the Force Band, which allows you to pretend you’re a Jedi and control a mini version of BB-8 using nothing but your wrist ... and a cheap-looking plastic band.

If having your own BB-8 replica to smash into walls, send flying down stairs, beeping and booping merrily on his way wasn’t cool enough, now you can do it without having to hold a phone or shout stupid things into it.

Sphero, the robotics company behind the BB-8 replica as well as Ollie and the eponymous Sphero, have unveiled the Force Band. It looks like a children’s pretend watch – a cross between a communicator and a Resistance geek’s badge of honour – but adds gesture controls to the mini rolling robot.

BB-8 will follow the motion of the band around your room. Steer it, send it rolling or command it to a halt as if you’d used the force itself (and you have an active imagination).

It’s currently being shown off in prototype form at CES in Las Vegas and will be available as a no-doubt pricey accessory in the autumn, ready for when Star Wars fever has worn off a bit and BB-8 will spend most of its time in a drawer.

Will it be as easy to control as a virtual joystick on a smartphone? Probably not, but it’s a lot more Jedi and a lot less toy.

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