Interactive Toy Vending Machine

Capsule vending machines, commonly known as “Gacha Gacha” in Japan, have maintained strong popularity among children since they were first installed in the 1960s until the present day. Currently, product development targets not only young children but also young adults to middle-aged consumers, and the variety of toys enclosed in the capsules has become increasingly diverse.

Conventional Gacha Gacha machines only have a mechanism for selling capsule products, but we have incorporated LCD screens into the Gacha Gacha unit itself, adding mechanisms that allow users to play further with the products they receive. This enables us to provide the worldview and stories behind the toys or allow users to play with the toys themselves.

This research is a collaborative project with Kaori Enomoto, Yu Izawa, Fusako Kusunoki, and Hideki Kaji from the Department of Information Design at Tama Art University.

“Toys from the Variety Store” by Kaori Enomoto

Each doll enclosed in a capsule has an embedded RFID tag, allowing the machine to recognize which type of doll it is. When a doll is placed on the platform located below the capsule retrieval port, an animation related to that doll’s story is displayed on the LCD screen built into the Gacha Gacha unit. Furthermore, when two dolls are placed simultaneously, animations corresponding to that specific combination can be viewed. This creates not only the enjoyment of watching animations but also the fun of exploring different combinations and bringing dolls together with friends.

System overview
The dolls
Examples of animation footages

“Gacha Pon, Ready!” by Yu Izawa

Translation to English

This is a combat game that applies the proposed system. Each of the five characters appearing in the game has their own special abilities. When the game starts and an enemy character appears on the LCD screen, a navigator provides hints about the enemy’s weaknesses. By placing a character with the appropriate special ability that matches the weakness, players can attack that vulnerability. Victory is achieved when all of the enemy’s weaknesses have been successfully attacked.

Screenshots
The characters

Publications