ElaStick: A Stick-Type Controller with Elastic Material and IMU for Versatile Input and Feedback

This project presents a modular stick-type controller toolkit based on the Datafeel Dots, integrating a 6-axis IMU and elastic materials. The toolkit supports sensing of common joystick and button inputs (e.g., pushing, tilting) as well as complex gestures like pulling and twisting. By enabling diverse gesture sensing with a single reconfig urable device, it offers a flexible platform for multimodal interaction. The system also provides four types of feedback—sound, vibration, light, and heat—enhancing user immersion. With interchangeable attachments, users can customize input by replacing elastic parts to adjust stiffness or adding extensions to detect parameters like pushdepth or bending. This flexibility supports creative applications in areas such as gaming, education, rehabilitation, and art. By unifying input and feedback in one toolkit, this work contributes to the development of a customizable toolkit for designing bidirectional controllers with integrated input sensing and multimodal feedback.