‘Hungry Kitchen’ is part of the Docodoco Indoor Island of Adventure, a digital playground attraction built within the Hachikawa Takashimaya S.C by Bandai Namco Amusements.

The technology offers children a full augmented reality experience including cutting food on a virtual plate, frying and mixing to serving up, in complete safety from any of the risks of a real kitchen.

The plastic utensils used in the ‘kitchen’ encompass a conductive material which is picked up by Zytronic’s touch sensor, located under the chopping board – allowing an appropriate response from the system.

“In order to balance both the playfulness and the precision of the experience, Zytronic technology was adopted,” comments Tetsuo Takahashi, producer of Indoor Island of Adventure Docodoco.

A custom sized 15.2” Zytronic Zyfilm together with a ZXY150 multitouch controller were selected with a key requirement that the touch sensor responded reliably from its location underneath an 8mm thick chopping board.

The system designers also appreciated the fact that set up values are stored on the ZXY150 touch controller itself, eliminating the need to store them on the host PC.

“For their special project, Bandai Namco Amusements had been seeking a projected capacitive touch sensor available in a unique design and in very small quantities,” says Ian Crosby, sales and marketing director at Zytronic.

“In addition, the chosen technology had to be capable of detecting a touch through a thick, opaque surface. We designed a bespoke 15” multitouch foil to their precise specifications. As our touch sensors and controllers can also operate through various non-conductive materials such as glass, acrylics and even stone, it provided an ideal solution for Bandai Namco Amusements,” he concludes.

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