The convention center floor at CES 2014 is full of companies trying to gain your attention with their latest iPhone case, Bluetooth speaker, television, or tablet.
Occasionally you find a product so unique that it’s in a category by itself. Such is the case for Anki Drive – described as “battle racing for the real world.” We like to think of it as slot car racing meets Mario Kart, with a smartphone interface. You really need to see it in action to understand.
With advanced Artificial Intelligence, each car thinks for itself and will ride around the 8-foot long track playing their own game without your interference. The cars have been engineered to think, know where they are, and make decisions on their own.
But watching robot cars is only so much fun, you’re going to want to get in on the game. Players can each control their own individual car from their iOS device and compete against friends or AI cars. The cars themselves are characters, each with individual names and abilities.
The entire game is controlled from an App on your iOS device, which allows it to be updated with bug fixes, new features and games as development continues.
The Anki Drive starter kit is now available and contains everything you need to start playing for $199. Additional tracks, cars, and gameplay options are planned for future development.
