With an eye on the Tokyo 2025 Deaflympics scheduled to be held in November 2025, Tokyo Metro and YAMAHA have introduced a system called “Visible Announcement” that can display announcements in multiple languages ​​in text, and will roll it out at all Tokyo Metro stations in order to improve information provision to people with hearing impairments and foreign tourists visiting Japan.
“Visible Announcement” is a service that can translate announcements in stations into multiple languages ​​and convert them into text without the need for a dedicated app. When users hold their smartphones over the “Trigger Board” dedicated panels installed in stations or scan the QR code, the contents of the announcements broadcast at that station using the station staff app “Omotenashi Guide for Biz” are displayed in multiple languages.
The technology was developed as part of Yamaha’s SoundUD initiative, and was trialed and used at seven Tokyo Metro stations in January this year.
In the future, they plan to expand this to all stations and increase the number of trigger boards installed at each station, thereby increasing convenience.

※Translating Japanese articles into English with AI