01
Surround & Aim.
You place shots around the robot from every direction. Your bullet trajectories become the constraints of an optimization problem.
Selected for IPA MITOU Target 2025 & 2026 — Quantum Computing Software ↓
A shooter where the enemy dodges you — with a quantum computer.
Every shot you fire becomes a constraint. The enemy robot solves for its best evasive pose — in real time.
Scroll — what · how · why · how exactly
How it works
You draw the lines. The machine solves. The answer moves.
A shot is drawn as a line; the robot shifts its pose to slip past it.
02
The machine solves.
A real quantum annealing machine — accessed via API — computes the joint-angle combination that minimizes hits.
03
The answer moves.
The solution appears in front of you as an acrobatic, unpredictable dodge. Optimization, made visible.
Played over three rounds — each round unlocks more bullets, so your strategy deepens as the space to place constraints grows.
The posture search space
One pose, chosen from 200 quadrillion.
One pose, chosen from 200 quadrillion (2×10¹⁷) — the robot's posture search space. Formulated as QUBO and solved by quantum annealing.
Why we made this
Play it, don't explain it.
Quantum annealing already powers logistics and scheduling — but almost no one outside industry ever feels it work. Optimization results are abstract; being told “this is optimal” is not the same as sensing it. AfterImage turns the output of a quantum computer into something you can see, dodge around, and fight: a new route for frontier technology to reach everyday hands.
- 01No expertise required — you touch quantum behavior directly, just by playing.
- 02Human strategy meets quantum optimization, side by side on the same board.
- 03Probabilistic by nature — unexpected poses, and unexpected fun.
Built with
Unity · Python · Fixstars Amplify AE
01Real-machine driven.
Not a simulation or a visual effect — the enemy's evasive pose is solved on an actual quantum annealing machine via API, and the raw result drives the game.
02QUBO at scale.
A posture space of 2×10¹⁷ combinations is formulated as QUBO and decomposed into a three-stage model — yaw, then axis, then limbs (left arm, right arm, right leg) — so it stays solvable within real-hardware limits. The objective function minimizes hits alone.
03Stable under 5 seconds.
Solve time was cut from 15s to under 5s — parallelizing the three limb solves and JIT-compiling the hot path with Numba — fast enough for live exhibition play.
04Randomness as game design.
Quantum annealing is probabilistic: identical conditions yield different poses. What is noise for industry becomes unpredictability — and fun — for a game.
The program behind it
Made inside a national program.
AfterImage was created through MITOU Target — a national program run by Japan's IPA that backs individual creators building software for frontier computing. For the 2025 cohort, that frontier was quantum computing.
Launched by IPA in 2018, MITOU Target discovers and develops “advanced-field IT talent” — creators who use next-generation computing to change how things are done. Each year it sets a specific frontier field as the “target,” then recruits individuals (or small groups — not companies) to pursue their own ambitious projects under the guidance of an expert Project Manager. The 2025 target field was software for quantum computing, spanning both annealing machines and gate-type quantum computers. AfterImage was one of 13 projects (32 creators) selected that year.
IPA (Innovation Platform Agency, Japan) is an independent administrative agency jointly supervised by Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and the Digital Agency. It supports the country's digital foundation, digital talent, and cybersecurity, under the tagline “Beyond Digital.” Its MITOU family of programs has a long track record of finding exceptional programmers and creators.
Track record & team
Exhibited at Taipei Game Show and SIGGRAPH 2026.
Taipei Game Show 2026 — Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center
~200+
Visitors played
5 days
Jan 28 – Feb 1, continuous run
Ran continuously through the show; roughly 200 visitors played — and counting onlookers, more than double shared the experience — confirming both stability and that it holds up on the floor.
“It really felt quantum.”
“Intellectually fun.”Playtester comments — Taipei Game Show 2026
Team
- Nobuyuki HiraiHitachi Consulting — Social Innovation Domain, AI & Smart Industry Div., Technology Strategy Office
- Ko KuramotoDentsu Digital — Creative Planning Div. 1
- Keita KanaiTokyo University of the Arts
- Takuto OokawaDentsu — Business Transformation Creative Center
SIGGRAPH 2026 Appy Hour — Los Angeles Convention Center
~50
Attendees played
9,500+
SIGGRAPH visitors, 69 countries
Shown at Appy Hour, SIGGRAPH's live demo showcase, on July 22 (17:00–19:00) during SIGGRAPH 2026 in Los Angeles. In two hours roughly 50 attendees took the controller — graphics researchers, technical artists and game developers among the 9,500+ visitors from 69 countries.
“That must take serious computation — the moment it dodges is the best part.”
“I want to see the dodge from 360 degrees.”
“Games are the perfect place to push new technology.”Visitor comments — SIGGRAPH 2026 Appy Hour
Handout
The one-sheet we handed out on the floor.
An overview of AfterImage: the key visual on the front, and the mechanism, search space and technical notes on the back. Open either side full-screen or download the PDF.
