Augmented Reality? The Tuttuki Bako box needs your finger to play with virtual characters

Who needs Augmented Reality Cybermaid Alice? Bandai Japan plans to release a palm-size cube in the middle of next month that lets you stick your finger into it to interact with the beings and things contained in the box.

The so-called Tuttuki Bako, Tuttuki Box, features a display that shows a digital replica of your finger once you put it into the hole in the right side of the device and start moving. Users can then play with a panda bear or a small figure, explore a “virtual” lake and touch a girl’s face or a slime ball.

The battery-powered box, which also doubles as a clock, is sized at just 105×120×87mm. Bandai will sell it for $30 but hasn’t said yet whether it will ever be available outside Japan as well.