DISNEY-LENOVO DEAL BRINGS LIGHTSABERS TO LIVING ROOMS
Augmented Reality lets ‘Star Wars’ fans play as a Jedi hero or a Dark Side villain
It’s every “Star Wars” fan’s fantasy to wield a lightsaber, and a licensing deal between Disney and Lenovo makes that fantasy a little more real through Augmented Reality.
“We knew ‘Star Wars’ fans have wanted to wield their very own lightsaber ever since they saw Luke Skywalker fire up a lightsaber for the first time when ‘Star Wars: A New Hope’ came out in 1977,” says Kyle Laughlin, SVP, Disney parks, experiences and consumer products.
A form of AR has been portrayed in “Star Wars” movies from the first appearance of the hologram of Princess Leia in “A New Hope.” The technology was a perfect fit for the franchise.
Lenovo had been working with Google on an AR device when Disney reached out through its Connected Experiences team, which creates technology-driven experiences for the home.
“We knew immediately that it would offer an incredibly compelling experience for our joint customer base,” says Matt Bereda, VP of global consumer marketing for Lenovo.
In under two years, the Disney team developed and patented new technology to license to Lenovo.
For the launch of “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” in holiday 2017, they launched “Star Wars: Jedi Challenges,” a smartphonepowered AR experience Fight Kylo Ren You Can
Disney tech plus a Lenovo headset and controller puts fans into their own lightsaber battle and lets them choose a side.
using a Lenovo Mirage AR headset and lightsaber controller modeled after Skywalker’s. Fans download the app, put on the headset — which holds their cell phone — place a tracking beacon on the floor, and use the lightsaber controller for a series of gameplay challenges superimposed in 3D.
A Best Buy exclusive helped launch the experience in 2017 through POS placement and in-store demonstrations. The game won more than 30 gaming and technology awards.
The Lenevo-disney partnership has continued with free updates, including a multiplayer mode and a Dark Side Expansion, launched Nov. 1, with new content and a new controller lightsaber modeled after Kylo Ren’s — because fans wanted to be able to play as a Dark Side character, too.