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At Macworld/iWorld this afternoon, one company was demonstrating an archery-based iPhone accessory, the BowBlade, which was inspired by movies like The Hunger Games.
The BowBlade is designed to look and feel like a traditional bow and arrow with one caveat - there's an iPhone attached. The iPhone goes at the front of the device, the bow is extended, and a trigger at the back fires a shot. When the trigger is fired, a stylus tip touches the screen.
BowBlade works with 35 different apps, including titles like Star Battalion, Final Space, Real Shooter, and Nerf Blaster Challenge.
Various games incorporate extra features like the iPhone's camera and augmented reality to create real world targets, or the iPhone's gyroscope and accelerometer for aiming and firing. Our sister site TouchArcade has a video of the BowBlade in action:
The four pound version of the BowBlade being demonstrated at Macworld was a prototype, but the company has pre-orders available for $185. Shipping will begin in April.
Top Rated Comments
Maybe I'm not getting it right... But since this is to be used as a bow n' arrow accessory for games, wouldn't the iPhone's screen be far too small to see anything on it when you're using the bow and arrow?
+10000000
Interesting idea, but terrible execution. This was not thought out properly at all.
It seems to achieve neither... but oh well, at least it's fun to see entrepreneurs get creative!
(The idea of playing sci-fi Star Battalion on a little screen stuck on the tip of a simulated stone-age bow is surreal. So is the release mechanism.... looks like you don't actually let go of the string, but do something with the hand next to the phone. And the action is not via Bluetooth if there's that little "stylus" that mechanically touches the screen! This is some mad science here. I don't see the "blade" part yet, but nothing would surprise me!)