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Scientists create the smallest video game in the world

Japanese researchers have created the “smallest shooting game” in which the destinations are a billionth of a meter of a meter in size (3.3 billion meters).

The Nagoya University team created this game, which works in the nanoskalle.

With a standard controller, the players start a digital miniature ship and start nanoscale balls to manipulate a physical ball, which only measured a few micrometers.

This development means great progress in “Nano-Misch-Reality” (nano-MR), a technology that seamlessly smears the digital and nanoscopic worlds.

“The game is a shooting game in which the player manipulates a ship and shoots balls on real nanoparticles to ward off it. This has successfully demonstrated the real-time interaction between digital data and physical nano objects, ”said Professor Takayuki Hoshino, the senior developer.

Electron-beam-induced electric force field indicator for dynamic organic dipular system. Credit: Japanese Journal of Applied Physics (2025).

Smallest shooting game

Nano-MR is a process in which high-speed electron rays are used to achieve digital and nanoscopic integration of real time.

The high -speed rays are significantly involved in the creation of a dynamic and interactive environment. The rays create complex electrical real -time fields and optical image patterns on the display.

These rays act like invisible hands and control the movement of nanoparticles.

The researchers can move and manipulate nanoparticles in real time by checking the power field.

Professor Hoshino, a fan of Vintage video games, wanted to create an appealing opportunity to demonstrate this technology. And so the smallest shooting game in the world was born.

This nanoscale shooting game enables direct interaction with objects on the nanometer scale. In the smallest video game in the world, the spaceship and its projectile digital overlays are, but the goals are actual, physical polystyrene balls on a microscopic scale.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1l1m24wty00

How it works

In this specific application, the researchers tried to create an environment in which digital objects could interact directly with the physical nanoscale environment.

To achieve this, they used a joystick to manipulate the scan pattern of a high-speed electron beam.

This manipulation was again translated into the screen movement of a virtual triangular spaceship.

The aim of the players was to use this virtual spaceship controlled by the electron beam to “beat” or split enemy characters in this microscopic arcade.

With the electron beam, the players tried to meet the enemy characters who were actually polystyrene balls.

Thus, the players directly influenced the movement of real physical objects by manipulating a digital interface, which effectively closed the gap between virtual and real on an incredibly small scale.

“The system projects the game ship onto the real nanophysical area as an optical image and force field and creates an MR in which nanoparticles and digital elements interact,” said Hoshino.

While the nanoscale shooting game provides a convincing demonstration of the technology, its effects go far beyond mere entertainment. This method could help to build and move tiny living beings, which is useful for nanotechnology and medicine.

“We could print the created objects in real time 3D and possibly revolutionize the world of 3D printing. Or use the same guide technology to lead toxic means to virus cells in living organisms and kill them, ”said Hoshino in the press release.

The results were published in the Japanese Journal of Applied Physics.