Hitachi, Ltd. and Keikyu Corp. have jointly developed an automatic translation system for railway station employees in cooperation with the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, an agency under the jurisdiction of the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry.
With more foreigners visiting Japan, station employees will need to increasingly communicate in foreign languages. The new system allows station employees to instantly translate conversations using a tablet device.
Keikyu plans to introduce the system on a trial basis in April at all of its about 70 stations. It aims to officially launch the system in July.
The system will be equipped with artificial intelligence that instantly translates Japanese into foreign languages, and vice versa, when people speak into the tablet. The translation is displayed on the screen and is also provided in audio form.
The system has become more accurate at translating conversations that are common at train stations. It provides useful translations such as, "Please transfer at Keikyu Kamata Station," and others for dealing with lost articles. The system can handle English, Chinese and Korean.
Keikyu operates a route connecting Haneda Airport with central Tokyo. The service has seen a surge in the number of foreign visitors.
Read more from The Japan News at https://japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/
