Readable Phone Booth Appears at Haneda Airport
TOKYO –
A phone booth that converts the voice of the person on the other end of a call into real-time text has been installed at Haneda Airport for four days, offering visitors a glimpse of technology designed for people who have difficulty hearing telephone conversations.
conversations.
The installation is part of an interactive event that opened at Haneda Airport on September 21, marking 150 years since the invention of the telephone and exploring the diversity of hearing through the evolution of telephone communication from the past to the present.
Visitors make a call from inside the booth using Yometel, a telephone application that displays the other person’s speech as text. The call connects to a telephone on the other side of a wall, and the speaker’s words appear in real time on the user’s smartphone.
The conversation is also displayed on a large screen beside the phone booth, allowing not only the person making the call but also passersby to see the moment when a voice becomes readable.
An estimated 14 million people in Japan experience difficulty hearing the voice of the person on the other end of a telephone call.
Organizers hope the event will raise awareness of Yometel and expand opportunities for people to use the service.
Source: テレ東BIZ
