Plenty of anime fans have longed for the chance to ride in a mech of their own, and now a Japanese firm is trying to make that dream come true with Vaudeville — a giant robot that you can control with Kinect or through your mobile phone. The 12-foot-tall bot weighs around 4,500 kilograms, and there’s a cockpit that you can strap into and control its movement, which includes some form of Kinect integration (though the details aren’t exactly clear). But you’ll also be able to manage Vaudeville remotely by connecting your phone to a miniature version of the robot, that you then manipulate by hand. The machine was originally expected to be completed last winter, but it looks like there are still some kinks to work out so you should expect to see it finished later this year. And when it is ready Vaudeville will be available for sale online — and you can even order a custom version equipped with anything from a fire-fighting water gun to full-body camouflage paint job.
Vaudeville: a 12-foot-tall rideable mech you control with Kinect and your smartphone
A team in Japan is building a robot that you can ride in and control using either Kinect motion controls or your mobile phone.
A team in Japan is building a robot that you can ride in and control using either Kinect motion controls or your mobile phone.
is an entertainment editor covering streaming, virtual worlds, and every single Pokémon video game. Andrew joined The Verge in 2012, writing over 4,000 stories.
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