Axisray Lab's BASH Replaces The Analog Stick With A Squeezable Pad
BASH puts the input problem at the thumb rather than the sensor: dropping the tilting shaft removes the familiar reference point that makes stick aiming and movement feel predictable, and Axisray Lab is asking players to relearn it by feel.
Reporting from 1 source: 4Gamer.net.
Axisray Lab showed BASH at Tokyo Game Show 2026, a wired USB gamepad with no analog stick. A soft mechanism called GumiTap sits where the stick would be, pressed in or pushed up, down, left, and right. Optical sensors inside read markers on the back of the pad and capture directional input, pressing, and rotation. It is planned for release within 2026 at around 300 to 350 dollars.
GumiTap is not a stick with a different sensor underneath. It is a soft pad with markers on its back side, and optical sensors read how those markers deform when the thumb presses in or leans in a direction. That setup lets the pad register directional input, a press, and rotation at once.
Playing Apex Legends on the floor, no input lag showed up, and aiming and fine view movement worked normally. The adjustment is physical: the thumb and the screen disagree about how far a movement should go until the player learns to combine a sideways motion with changes in pressure.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.