Nadeem Hussain, a United Kingdom-based designer, recently rendered a smart assistant robot that was inspired by BB-8 from Star Wars for Render Weekly’s Instagram showcase. Sometimes the most eye-catching designs find their inspiration from well-known film and television characters. If the designer channels their inspiration well, then the final product won’t be a spitting image of that character, but a gentle reminder of how art forms are inherently interconnected. When design feels inspired by something as iconic as Star Wars, the tricky part doesn’t have to do with imitating the franchise’s original creativity, but with evoking a feeling of familiarity. Hussain’s render of a new smart assistant is as charming and functional as Star Wars’ BB-8 robot but resembles a futuristic robot that might reside elsewhere in the intergalactic universe. BB-8 is described as an “astromech,” or repair droid with humanlike qualities such as general skittishness, a fight or flight response system, and an overall softly charismatic disposition. The same can be said for Hussain’s interpretation of the household smart assistant. In today’s world, where technology is depended on for repair work just like the astromech is in the Star Wars universe, it’s vital to bridge cutting-edge innovation with familiar, natural design attributes, and this vision of a home smart assistant does just that. Thin, gray fabric lines half of this two-bulb miniature robot in order to indicate the product’s speaker features, and a true-tone, computer display fills out the smart assistant’s touch screen face. The smart assistant’s bigger globular base slides across surfaces with so much ease that it imitates a hovering orb, the likes of which we’ve been acquainted with time and time again on the silver screen. As our world quickly develops into a technological hub of digitized timelines and self-driven cars, it seems that references from film and television connect us more than we might know. Smart assistants are becoming more and more popular in today’s households since there’s still room for both software and hardware developments. It’s comforting to know that creatives behind such iconic stories like Star Wars have imagined this future long before. Nadeem Hussain’s rendition of a smart assistant proves adherence to today’s technology and a familiar acknowledgment of generation-defining franchises, which is exactly what makes such artful displays of passion so eye-catching.