Zero Place Uses Experiential Capsule Toy Machines at WE LOVE Machida FESTA VOL.2 to Encourage Participation in Cultural Arts Activities

Zero Place Inc. (Headquarters: Saitama City, Saitama Prefecture; Representative Director: Yuki Narita) implemented a participation-promotion initiative using experiential capsule toy machines at the booth of the Culture Promotion Division, Culture and Sports Promotion Department of Machida City during “WE LOVE Machida FESTA VOL.2,” held in Machida, Tokyo on May 5 and 6, 2026. The event was organized by Keitaro and M Suzume. Under the theme of “designing cultural and artistic experiences that make visitors want to participate,” the initiative featured capsule toy content offering original pin badges as prizes. During the event, a wide range of visitors, from children to adults, took part. Background: Local events are increasingly expected not only to attract more visitors, but also to enhance the value of each visitor’s participation experience. At the same time, event venues often face challenges such as limited touchpoints with visitors, weak pathways for encouraging booth visits, and difficulty increasing participation in surveys and promotional activities. In response, the Culture Promotion Division booth introduced a participation-promotion measure using experiential capsule toy machines. Implementation: At the venue, an experiential capsule toy machine was installed, offering original pin badges as prizes. By using the intuitive and easy-to-understand experience of a capsule toy machine, the organizers created a pathway that naturally encouraged visitors to stop by the booth and engage with cultural and artistic initiatives. Participation in the capsule toy activity required two actions: taking part in the “sticky note art” project at the booth by freely drawing illustrations or messages on sticky notes as an entry point into cultural and artistic expression; and completing a venue-wide activity to find five hidden keywords. This created a mechanism in which participation in cultural and artistic experiences directly led to participation in the capsule toy activity. On the day of the event, many adults as well as children participated, and visitors across a broad age range were seen enjoying the capsule toy experience. Combining experiential content with the capsule toy machine also helped increase booth dwell time and encourage circulation around the venue. Results summary: the capsule toy machine was used 225 times; visitors across a wide age range, from children to adults, participated; booth visits and dwell time were encouraged; and participation behavior was generated in a natural way. The initiative successfully created a participation pathway based on “experience” and drew out voluntary actions from visitors. Three factors that generated participation: First, the experience was designed to make people want to try it. The intuitive and easy-to-understand mechanism of a capsule toy machine allowed participation to happen without lengthy explanation, naturally drawing in people from children to adults. Second, the prize design clarified the reason to participate. By offering event-exclusive original pin badges, the initiative increased visitors’ motivation to join. Third, the machine was highly compatible with the booth flow. Placing it inside the booth created visits and dwell time triggered by the capsule toy experience, generating new touchpoints with visitors. Future outlook: Zero Place will continue developing capsule toy content themed around “promoting participation through experiences” for local governments, companies, and regional events. Beyond event attendance, the company aims to contribute to regional revitalization and improved visitor experience value through uses such as survey collection, venue circulation measures, regional PR, tourism initiatives, and fan marketing. About the capsule toy machine with digital signage: Key features include built-in digital signage that can freely play not only still images but also videos and audio, making it useful for product promotion, campaign announcements, and many other scenarios. The capsules can contain a wide variety of items without specific restrictions, including original merchandise, coupons, and samples, making the machine suitable for campaign initiatives and unmanned sales tools. It also supports multiple payment methods, including coins, medals, and tokens, with optional cashless payment support. Free-play settings are also available, making it well suited for experiential events and visitor-attraction installations. Related article: Zero Place launches next-generation capsule toy machine equipped with digital signage. Inquiries regarding the capsule toy machine or this press release: Zero Place Inc., Sales Department: 090-7360-3750, Mail: gtchax@xe oplace.jp, Website: https://xe oplace.jp/, SNS: X