A wide array of unique input devices on display, including a cleaning roller, ship's steering wheel, orca, and dice. Aizuchi Institute of Technology booth report [TGS2025]
Note: the original Japanese article can be found at:
https://www.4gamer.net/games/999/G999901/20251002052/
Writer: Shinkai Shinya | 2025/10/02 11:23 (UTC)
From September 25 to September 28, 2025, Aichi Institute of Technology participated in Tokyo Game Show 2025 with a booth.
The university has a program called “Student Challenge Project,” which supports students who take on challenges in creating physical products. One initiative under this program was exhibiting games at Tokyo Game Show. The student teams had formed small development groups and created unique games, each featuring distinctive input devices that were both innovative and surprising.
It was particularly engaging to see different games showcased daily, drawing significant attention from visitors to the venue. This article introduces six titles exhibited on September 26, 2025.
“Charge! The Orca’s Dinner” — Input Device: Orca
The input device for this title is a floating ring shaped like an orca. Players move the orca by hugging it, swimming through underwater environments and eating fish prey. However, orcas are lung-breathing marine mammals—swimming causes the breath meter to deplete, and when it reaches zero, players suffer a penalty of reduced remaining time. To avoid this, players must surface periodically to take breaths.
To change direction while swimming, users need to tilt the hugging orca left or right; during breathing, they must lift their head upward sharply. These controls are intuitive, especially the sense of immersion when rising to the surface for air. Additionally, the player’s posture—holding the orca—mirrored the in-game scene of a boy riding on an orca’s back.
Image Gallery No.002 thumbnail / Unique input devices including a cleaning roller, ship steering wheel, orca, and manko are abundant. Aichi Institute of Technology Booth Report [TGS2025] Image Gallery No.003 thumbnail / Unique input devices including a cleaning roller, ship steering wheel, orca, and manko are abundant. Aichi Institute of Technology Booth Report [TGS2025]
Initially, the idea was to use actual water in gameplay, but practical challenges led to a pivot. Various methods were tested, including players wearing fin-like footwear, ultimately settling on using the floating ring as an input device.
The orca’s belly houses a microcontroller that detects its angle. Early prototypes faced issues such as sensor inaccuracies and lag between physical movement and visual feedback in-game. At the event, it was observed that many players tended to change direction not by tilting (rolling) the orca but by changing its heading (yawing), which presents an ongoing challenge.
“unbaRUNce!!” — Input Device: Tray and Wine Glass, Mat
This game stands out with its input device: a wine glass balanced on a tray. The objective is to carry the glass without spilling, while avoiding approaching ghosts and tables by stepping on a mat beneath the feet.
What makes this unique is the idea of representing instability. Typically, one holds a tray using both hands or supports it fully with one palm—but in this game, players must grip only a soft plastic bottle attached underneath the tray’s base. When moving their feet to dodge obstacles, the tray wobbles dramatically—creating an exhilarating experience.
The cute visuals, combined with the elegant scenario of transporting wine on a tray and intuitive rules, give it strong party-game appeal.
Image Gallery No.007 thumbnail / Unique input devices including a cleaning roller, ship steering wheel, orca, and manko are abundant. Aichi Institute of Technology Booth Report [TGS2025] Image Gallery No.008 thumbnail / Unique input devices including a cleaning roller, ship steering wheel, orca, and manko are abundant. Aichi Institute of Technology Booth Report [TGS2025]
Image Gallery No.009 thumbnail / Unique input devices including a cleaning roller, ship steering wheel, orca, and manko are abundant. Aichi Institute of Technology Booth Report [TGS2025] Image Gallery No.010 thumbnail / Unique input devices including a cleaning roller, ship steering wheel, orca, and manko are abundant. Aichi Institute of Technology Booth Report [TGS2025]
The idea for such unique input devices originated from watching a TV program featuring an event where participants balanced a ping-pong ball on a tray while riding a rodeo machine. Deciding what to place on the tray posed a challenge, but after receiving advice from teachers—“Use a liquid that clearly shows spillage”—the team settled on using a wine glass.
The soft plastic bottle attached beneath the tray was chosen because holding it normally would make the setup too stable. While considering adding weights directly to the tray for instability, concerns over availability led them to attach an external component instead. Various items like health tools were tested before settling on the current plastic bottle design.
The wine glass contains a microcontroller that detects tilt. A mat-shaped controller under the player’s feet enables left-right movement via foot pressure.
The game screen is divided into three lanes: left, center, and right—players must move between them to avoid obstacles. The controller has no central button, but many players instinctively stepped on the middle section when trying to return to the center lane.
“Steer with the Wheel” — Input Device: Steering Wheel
Players steer a sailboat toward the goal by turning a large steering wheel with both hands, avoiding obstacles. Simply rotating the wheel is enjoyable—but this game goes further: players must grip specific handles on the wheel.
If they don’t grip the designated handle, the boat won’t turn; and which handle to grab changes constantly. This naturally leads players to cross their hands in authentic-looking gestures—adding immersion through tactile feedback during steering.
The way players rotate the wheel feels natural, almost like turning a car’s steering wheel when crossing hands Image Gallery No.014 thumbnail / Unique input devices including a cleaning roller, ship steering wheel, orca, and manko are abundant. Aichi Institute of Technology Booth Report [TGS2025] Image Gallery No.015 thumbnail / Unique input devices including a cleaning roller, ship steering wheel, orca, and manko are abundant. Aichi Institute of Technology Booth Report [TGS2025]
The decision to use a steering wheel as an input device was based on its satisfying feel and cool appearance. However, early prototypes lacked engaging gameplay despite the rotation mechanism.
Solutions such as incorporating commercially available torque feedback mechanisms were considered—but instead, the team chose to innovate through game design: “the boat only turns when you grip the specified handle.”
Before arriving at this idea, other concepts had been explored—such as assigning items to each handle (usable upon gripping) or requiring players to hold a specific handle to withstand incoming waves. However, both designs became too complicated and limited handling opportunities, so they were abandoned.
Rotation of the wheel is detected by a rotary encoder, while which grip handle is being pressed is monitored via capacitive touch sensors—all processed by one microcontroller.
During testing, some players with dry hands failed to trigger responses from the steering wheel. Additionally, due to the housing structure, the cable connecting the touch sensor and microcontroller became too long, affecting detection accuracy—issues that remain ongoing challenges.
Rotation is detected using a rotary encoder; necessary parts were 3D-printed Image Gallery No.016 thumbnail / Unique input devices including a cleaning roller, ship steering wheel, orca, and manko are abundant. Aichi Institute of Technology Booth Report [TGS2025]
A shaft runs through the wheel’s center, with bearings at the base to allow smooth rotation Image Gallery No.017 thumbnail / Unique input devices including a cleaning roller, ship steering wheel, orca, and manko are abundant. Aichi Institute of Technology Booth Report [TGS2025]
“Ink & Witch” — Input Device: Roller
Players become a witch, painting color onto panels flowing in from the front. The tool used is a cleaning roller—commonly known as a “coaster.” Three boards are placed on three corresponding lanes; players roll the roller across them.
At first, panel speed is slow and there are few panels—but as gameplay progresses, the pace increases dramatically. Players quickly alternate between lanes: rolling one side, then the other—becoming increasingly busy. Rolling the roller is enjoyable, and physical fatigue adds to the immersive experience (personally, it brought back memories of using a rubber roller in art class for printmaking).
Even at this stage, the game functions as an engaging physical experience—but there’s more: each panel is actually one dot in a larger digital artwork. As players paint with the roller, they gradually complete a full pixel art image.
Image Gallery No.020 thumbnail / Unique input devices including a cleaning roller, ship steering wheel, orca, and manko are abundant. Aichi Institute of Technology Booth Report [TGS2025] Image Gallery No.021 thumbnail / Unique input devices including a cleaning roller, ship steering wheel, orca, and manko are abundant. Aichi Institute of Technology Booth Report [TGS2025]
The game originated from the idea of creating a game with an entirely new kind of interface. During brainstorming, using cleaning rollers was suggested—and instead of just making a cleaning game, the team added color-painting mechanics.
The wooden boards are set at angles; initially they were placed flat side-by-side. After testing, it became clear that gameplay felt monotonous regardless of which lane panels arrived on—so adding angled sides introduced visual and interactive variation.
Inside the roller is a microcontroller that determines which board is being painted based on angle detection. The absence of mechanisms on the force-bearing side contributes to overall stability.
Image Gallery No.022 thumbnail / Unique input devices including a cleaning roller, ship steering wheel, orca, and manko are abundant. Aichi Institute of Technology Booth Report [TGS2025] Image Gallery No.023 thumbnail / Unique input devices including a cleaning roller, ship steering wheel, orca, and manko are abundant. Aichi Institute of Technology Booth Report [TGS2025]
“Stapler Gunman” — Input Device: Stapler
Players take on the role of a Western-style gunslinger, wielding two staplers instead of firearms—attacking stacks of documents. Since these are real work materials, players must place staples accurately in proper positions: use the left stapler to secure documents at the top-left corner if they’re vertical; the right one for horizontal orientation.
Many people can recall being scolded as children for firing a stapler empty—but here, you can click away freely. The satisfying “click” sound of each staple is inherently pleasurable, making players want to keep pressing it repeatedly.
This also adds a fun “gunslinger” roleplay element: when aimed, the staplers feel like real weapons—creating an urge to fire uncontrollably in a single-minded manner.
Image Gallery No.025 thumbnail / Unique input devices including a cleaning roller, ship steering wheel, orca, and manko are abundant. Aichi Institute of Technology Booth Report [TGS2025] Image Gallery No.026 thumbnail / Unique input devices including a cleaning roller, ship steering wheel, orca, and manko are abundant. Aichi Institute of Technology Booth Report [TGS2025]
The choice to use a stapler as an input device stemmed from the simple idea: “It would feel great to click it repeatedly.” The resemblance of stapling motion to shotgun firing inspired the gunslinger theme.
Though titled “Stapler Gunman,” aiming isn’t required—what matters is detecting whether the stapler was pressed. Under each stapler’s base, a plate (called a “clinch”) holds the staple in place; two jumper wires are attached here. When players press the stapler, the driver (a metal plate that pushes out the staple) contacts an electrode and sends an electrical signal via wire to the PC—essentially repurposing the stapler’s original mechanism with minimal modification.
A casing covers the base of each stapler to secure the input detection wires; crumpled eraser pieces are stuffed inside to prevent internal movement. Players must use the left or right stapler depending on document orientation, but some visitors found it difficult to decide quickly during play.
“Manko Time” — Input Device: Manko
“Manko Time” combines real paper manko with digital manko displayed on a screen. Players hold physical paper manko and slam them onto the display to flip over target digital manko.
Three paper manko are provided—round, triangular, and square—each with different impact wave patterns. When a player’s own manko is struck by an impact wave, it flips over to trigger a “Friendship Combo,” producing a larger ripple effect and increasing the chance for high scores. This means strategy comes into play: choosing which paper manko to use first, and where to place them next.
On screen, large ripples spread like waves across countless digital manko, flipping them dramatically. The sheer number of digital manko makes handling that many in real life impractical—plus the varied ripple patterns would be impossible to manage manually. This is a feature uniquely possible through digital expression.
At the same time, the physical sensation of slamming paper manko provides satisfying tactile feedback. Three decks exist: “Birds and Beasts,” “Japanese Weapons,” and “Sushi”—all with three shapes (round, triangle, square), sharing identical abilities but differing in appearance. This fusion of analog and digital creates a distinctive gaming experience.
Used paper manko are removed from the display—but reappear as digital versions in their original positions. When the next player’s paper manko strikes that spot, it flips over easily to trigger another Friendship Combo Image Gallery No.030 thumbnail / Unique input devices including a cleaning roller, ship steering wheel, orca, and manko are abundant. Aichi Institute of Technology Booth Report [TGS2025] Image Gallery No.031 thumbnail / Unique input devices including a cleaning roller, ship steering wheel, orca, and manko are abundant. Aichi Institute of Technology Booth Report [TGS2025] Image Gallery No.032 thumbnail / Unique input devices including a cleaning roller, ship steering wheel, orca, and manko are abundant. Aichi Institute of Technology Booth Report [TGS2025]
The game originated from the theme of digitizing traditional pastimes. Manko was chosen because turning digital manko would make them easy to flip, making it beginner-friendly—leading to a focus on flashy gameplay.
When players slam paper manko onto the screen, impact is measured by a microcontroller board (“Scoomy”) and sensors, while a camera detects position and shape. At the venue, lighting interference occasionally made detecting paper manko difficult—but adjusting placement resolved this issue. While sensor data captures impact strength, it hasn’t yet been effectively used in gameplay—another area for future improvement.
Paper manko come in three decks: “Birds and Beasts,” “Japanese Weapons,” and “Sushi”—each with one round, triangle, and square piece; abilities are identical across all Image Gallery No.033 thumbnail / Unique input devices including a cleaning roller, ship steering wheel, orca, and manko are abundant. Aichi Institute of Technology Booth Report [TGS2025]
Sensor detecting impact (left) and camera identifying manko position (right). The camera is hidden behind a display resembling a convenience store’s storefront, making it invisible unless you look from below Image Gallery No.034 thumbnail / Unique input devices including a cleaning roller, ship steering wheel, orca, and manko are abundant. Aichi Institute of Technology Booth Report [TGS2025] Image Gallery No.035 thumbnail / Unique input devices including a cleaning roller, ship steering wheel, orca, and manko are abundant. Aichi Institute of Technology Booth Report [TGS2025]
Each year, Aichi Institute of Technology delivers impactful games with unique input devices. However, due to the large number of completed titles, it’s impossible to display all without rotating them daily.
Past Tokyo Game Shows have featured similarly unprecedented entries—like using a Japanese umbrella with projection mapping or pressing fingers into noses—as part of their exhibitions. Those interested are encouraged to check out past articles for more details.
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