Driverless cars, robot volunteers and ultra high-definition TV: Japan Inc hopes to use next year’s Tokyo Olympics to show the world it has regained its touch for innovation and technology.
The last time Japan hosted the summer games — Tokyo 1964 — it wowed visitors with its Shinkansen, the sleek high-speed bullet train that has since become a byword for cool and efficient transport.
It used the Games as a springboard to dominate the tech world. From Sharp’s LCD screens to the Sony Walkman, Japan enjoyed an unparalleled reputation in the vanguard of technological innovation.
Photo: AFP
However, the 21st century has seen Silicon Valley giants and rivals from China and South Korea catch up and overtake some of the great names in Japanese tech.
“We think we’re still innovative, but when you look at the rest of the world, we’re not the most innovative,” said Yoko Ishikura, an expert in competitiveness at Hitotsubashi University. “It is worrying to see that many Japanese have very little idea what is going on elsewhere.”
“Our vision for the 2020 Games includes an aspiration to make them the most innovative in history,” Tokyo 2020 spokesman Masa Takaya said.
As soon as visitors arrive at the airport, they would be greeted by multilingual robots primed to assist them and automatic chairs designed to take them to a destination selected by smartphone.
Panasonic is working on an automatic translation system that could be used for counters, for example. Two people speak on either side of a screen in their own language and the translation appears simultaneously written on the other side.
Tech giant NEC is deploying a facial-recognition system for 300,000 athletes, staff and journalists that would identify people within 0.3 seconds — speeding up access to venues and bolstering security.
Sports fans would also have their experience enhanced with advanced motion-sensor devices to offer data on ball position, heart rates or athlete movements. Fujitsu is even working with the International Gymnastics Federation to feed motion data to assist judges.
However, perhaps the main sector hoping to use the Games as a spur to innovation is transport.
With the auto industry already going through a major transformation, “2020 is the ideal moment, probably the dividing line between the old and the new world,” CLSA analyst Christopher Richter said.
Toyota is to be rolling out its e-Palette, a driverless car without a steering wheel, which would be able to move around “in a predefined zone,” said Yasunobu Seki, department general manager at Toyota’s Olympic and Paralympic division.
All Nippon Airways tested a driverless bus at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport and some driverless taxi services aim to be fully functional in time for the Olympics.
The Olympics would also be a chance for vehicle manufacturers to showcase the latest in “clean” driving technology.
“The idea is to show that hydrogen vehicles can be part of everyone’s life and that people take that away from the Games,” Seki said.
There are even rumors that a flying car would be used to light the Olympic flame, with a small start-up working on a project to produce such vehicles.
However, organizers are keeping their feet firmly planted on the ground and, for now at least, say they are not planning such a stunt.
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