Gadgetory

Star Wars Jedi challenges is a new augmented reality gaming system created by Lenovo and Disney for around $200 you get a phone powered Lenovo Mirage air headset a lightsaber controller and a light-up beacon you download a free Jedi challenges Android or iOS app and then slide your phone into an adjustable tray mirrors reflect the phone's display in front of your eyes so it looks like a hologram cameras on the headset track your beacon and lightsaber creating a cheap and simple motion control system the app opens a fictional Jedi archive that trains you to become a Padawan and Knight and eventually a master the mirages images look like transparent overlays not solid objects especially in a well-lit room like most air headsets a its field of view is small and boxy it was good at matching a virtual lightsaber blade to my controller I had to recenter it a lot the tracking performance was OK in both bright and dark spaces but it was never great Jedi challenges offers three game modes with several hours of material you can play holo chess matches or try a real-time strategy game based on the Star Wars universe but as you might have guessed from the controller lightsaber fighting the main attraction the game pits you against waves of droids and stormtroopers and then puts you in one-on-one duels with kylo Ren Darth Vader and other Star Wars villains lines tell you where to block and dodge and you have to get in the right defensive position and then retaliate you get power-ups by fighting increasingly tough versions of these duels which can be pretty challenging you can even work up a sweat playing unfortunately it's really not fun to set up the app has a long startup tutorial the bluetooth pairing can be finicky and you have to plug the phone in with a tiny easy to lose cable you have to keep the headset and lightsaber charged via USB and keep an eye on your phone battery it's reasonable for a sophisticated toy but it's not something you can just pick up and put on also the Mirage it's just heavy and badly balanced I kept worrying it would fall off when I dodged and ducked and it was only fun for short sessions before getting uncomfortable the lightsaber fights were absolutely worth it but after the novelty had worn off the other games were just harder and less fun than they'd be on a mobile AR app if the Mirage were an open platform it could be a fun super low-budget err headset but for now it's an expensive gaming device with one really fun experience and a lot of rough edges you'll have to decide whether it's worth overlooking that to get a little taste of the force oh god I'm