Star Wars 7

[korn469]

I already hate that rolling robot - the tech for making such doesn't make sense. yeah, I know that there isn't any real tech in most SW machinery, but that robots capability renders most other tech in the SW universe hopelessly outdated.

Edit: I like the trailers - there seem to be a more grim air over them.

BlackCat

Minus the Artificial Intelligence, the tech for the rolling robot already exists. Here's the video

https://youtu.be/-1Y2WfcCb4M

[Proteus_MST]

Cool ... the ultimative gadget for any Star Wars Geek
Unfortunately a little bit on the pricey side with ~300 € but great nevertheless

[giblets]

Bad news for Kidicious:

BB-8 is a girl – plus everything else we know about the new Star Wars droid

BB-8, the orange-and-white droid from JJ Abrams’s forthcoming Star Wars: The Force Awakens, beeped, rolled and zoomed its way into our hearts after the release of the very first trailer for the film.

We knew that the knee-high rollerball droid was one of the coolest things we’d ever seen. We knew that that we needed to own a replica as soon a possible (thanks, Sphero – your adorable mini-robot is everything we dreamed of). We knew that we were in love.

But one thing we didn’t know, was that BB-8 was female.

Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy later referred to BB-8 as “she”, and reports from the films set, as well as some of the Star Wars publicity materials, suggested that the new droid was a girl (confusingly, puppeteers Dave Chapman and Brian Herring, who are responsible for operating the robot, have previously referred to BB-8 as “him”).

But now, a source close to the filmmakers has told the Daily Mail that BB-8 is definitely “a she” – and that the decision was a deliberate attempt to appeal to the female half of the Star Wars toy market.

“There’s never been a strong female robot in any Star Wars film,” the source said.

“JJ [Abrams] was determined to make BB-8 cute and strong – and female. They want to appeal to girls as much boys, who have traditionally been the fan base. She’s going to be one of the breakout hits of the film.”

While the question of robots and gender could probably fill a dozen ethics papers – is it determined by the maker? The robot themselves? Do droids really need a gender, and if so should they be restricted to just two? – the fact remains that R2-D2 and C-3PO, the robot odd couple from the previous films, were both clearly male.

A prominent female droid therefore feels like a long-overdue addition to the Star Wars universe. While some are claiming that the move is irrelevant – BB-8 would be popular regardless of her gender – others are encouraged by the fact that the filmmakers are actively trying to engage with their younger female fans.

The films have always attracted fans from both sides of the gender divide, but in both the original films and the prequels, male characters greatly outnumber their female counterparts (the caseis less true in the accompanying games, comics and novels).

In The Force Awakens, however, a number of key characters, including lead Rey (Daisy Ridley), chrome stormtrooper and key villain Captain Phasma (Gwendoline Christie), pirate queen Maz Kanata (Lupita Nyong’o) and now BB-8 are all female.

The decision to focus on the toy market is also a significant move.

Earlier this year, the company responsible for manufacturing some of the Jurassic World merchandise came under fire after it was revealed that it had changed all of the female dinosaurs from the film into males. The implication – that girls didn’t play with dinosaurs, or that boys wouldn’t want to play with female-gendered toys – was discouraging, suggesting a lack of imagination on the part of the designers.

Five things we know about BB-8

1. She’s female. Robot sisterhood, rejoice.

2. She’s a physical model, operated by a puppeteer. The puppeteers are then digitally removed from the picture – so, while the dreaded CGI is still being used, it’ll be good CGI.

3. She was inspired by a football. “I looked at a lot of soccer balls,” designer Christian Alzmann told Star Wars.com. “When you’re on a project like that, you start looking at everything spherical for inspiration. I think I ran across a soccer ball, and I was just like, ‘Oh, it’s kind of perfect.’”

4. She’s been made into a pumpkin A number of creative Star Wars fans decided to do something a little different this Halloween, and create pumpkin BB-8s. They're definitely cheaper than the Sphero version.

5. She’s going to be an “integral” part of The Force Awakens. Sources close to the filmmakers have revealed that BB-8 plays an important part in the film, and acts as a “buddy” to Rey (in much the same way that R2-D2 was attached to Luke in the original trilogy).

There are female robots in Star Wars

[Elok]

EV-9D9 from ROTJ was "female" too. This BB is just the first "strong female droid" who doesn't happen to be a sadist working for an alien gangster slug.

[onodera]

I think it will be good, better than the prequels, but will probably have some bit of bull**** that I will end up hating and complaining about.

Like the amount of merchandise being shoved down everyone's throat?

[Elok]

[Thoth]

We knew that the knee-high rollerball droid was one of the coolest things we’d ever seen

No.

It's a rolling mechanical boob. It looks stupid.

[Lorizael]

Like the amount of merchandise being shoved down everyone's throat?

Maybe I keep my mouth more tightly sealed than you do, but I've had no trouble with choking on Star Wars merchandise. Just pay attention to something else, maybe? Like, I've watched all the trailers multiple times, so I'm pretty psyched, but my contact with the merchandise basically amounts to being aware of the Force Friday business.

[giblets]

No.

It's a rolling mechanical boob. It looks stupid.

Well, at least that explains why a robot is considered female

[Thoth]

Well, at least that explains why a robot is considered female

Assigning a gender to a machine is even stupider than a rolling robot.

[Proteus_MST]

Assigning a gender to a machine is even stupider than a rolling robot.

Not necessarily so ... ask Data, who was created "fully functional" and IIRC was able to completely satisfy Tasha Yar

[Thoth]

Not necessarily so ... ask Data, who was created "fully functional" and IIRC was able to completely satisfy Tasha Yar

Calling a walking, talking dildo a "he" is still stupid.

[Lorizael]

Well, we call boats shes. I won't argue that's less stupid, but it's at least not without precedent.

[onodera]

Well, we call boats shes. I won't argue that's less stupid, but it's at least not without precedent.

The sailors shouted "there she blows" when they spotted Moby Dick, and he had a penis right there in his name. English is weird.

[rah]

For all we know R2D2 was really a female and people just assumed it was a he.