Gatebox: Azuma Hikari in the tube

Gatebox is a Japanese tube that projects an anime-style character and treats her as a waifu who lives in the house. The idea spread fast among otaku circles after the first limited sale. Some people think it is interesting. Others think it is bizarre. I also find it somewhat bizarre, but I think it's better to have a Gatebox than a Google Home or Alexa as a home assistant.

The character in that judgment is Azuma Hikari, 逢妻ヒカリ. She has her own likes and hobbies. You talk to her by voice, and the mass-production unit uses a camera so she can react when she sees you. She was made to wake you, message your phone while you are out, and run appliances in the room. On that machine the conversation is in Japanese.

How Azuma Hikari works in the tube

The mass-production model is GTBX-100. The body is about 21 cm wide, 27.7 cm deep and 54.9 cm tall, and it weighs about 5 kg. Bluetooth and infrared are how it reaches the television, the lights and the air conditioner. Wi-Fi is required, and a wired connection cannot be used. A camera, microphones and a motion sensor let Hikari notice a face and someone coming back into the room.

Reservations for GTBX-100 opened on July 31, 2018, at 150,000 yen before tax. Shipping was announced for October 2018 onward. The limited run before that was about 300 units at roughly 300,000 yen, and that batch sold out in a month. Those first units went on reservation in December 2016, with 39 more sold in November 2017, and their service started in February 2018. The 150,000 yen figure is the July 2018 price of the mass model. Gatebox sold that model in 2019, and a new order now goes to the Gatebox3 page.

The other photo is Hatsune Miku inside an early tube, with a line on the glass about rain and an umbrella. Miku was a character on the first limited model. On December 10, 2019, Gatebox set the end of that model's service for March 31, 2020, at noon. After that hour, both Hikari and Miku stopped appearing and talking on those first units. The notice kept the mass-production model's service running.

Can you still buy a Gatebox?

The model on the current product page is Gatebox3. Gatebox lists an expected retail price of 200,000 yen before tax, and general sale from April 2027. The Japanese Makuake pre-sale ran from April through September 2026, and the total of support purchases passed 100 million yen. Overseas, the company plans a Kickstarter pre-sale from December 2026. People who backed the Japanese campaign are due to receive a unit earlier than that general sale.

The software named for Gatebox3 is a Windows version of Azuma Hikari, plus Gatebox Collection for a 3D model you choose. Hikari comes back on that hardware. A character there can also operate appliances, the same house-control job the older tube already did with infrared.

The photos above are the earlier machine: Hikari in four outfits, and Miku inside the tube with the rain line. A price of about 150,000 yen belongs to GTBX-100 as of July 31, 2018. If you want a new unit, the page to follow is Gatebox3.