TOKYO: Driverless cars, robot volunteers and ultra high-definition TV: Japan Inc hopes to use the Tokyo 2020 Olympics to show the world it has regained its touch for innovation and technology.
"One of the big problems is that 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. As soon as visitors arrive at the airport, they will be greeted by multilingual robots primed to assist them and automatic chairs designed to take them to a destination selected by smartphone.
And NHK is set to wow its global TV audience with programming in ultra high-definition 8K. It already broadcast the world's first programme in 8K in December 2018 as it geared up for the games. 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", said Christopher Richter, an analyst at brokerage firm CLSA.
However, Richter warned that"we are a long way away from cars that can take you wherever you want to go".