SEIKA, Kyoto Prefecture--Fans of the adorable Seika Kyomachi, the town of Seika's popular mascot, will soon be able to carry on a conversation with the digital character. The small town, located between Kyoto and Nara, is collaborating with NTT Communication Science Laboratories to develop artificial intelligence capabilities for the mascot. The plan would allow Seika Kyomachi to answer questions from visitors and locals about tourism and municipal administration. Seika officials announced the project in July, and aim to put the AI-driven character into practical use in November. The town introduced Seika Kyomachi as its official mascot in 2013 and has long pioneered new ways to use the cute character.

"No longer were there individual destinies; only a collective destiny, made of plague and emotions shared by all." Many more people in Japan can identify that quote now than would have been the case two months ago. In 1947, when Albert Camus' novel "The Plague" first appeared, it was interpreted allegorically. World War II had shattered the world. A plague seemed an all-too-fitting metaphor for man's bleak fate among the ruins.

A new online version of the game Othello has become a hit in Japan because the AI has been designed to always lose, and players love it. The game, called'The weakest AI Othello,' was released in August and has since attracted over 400,000 players for more than 1.29 million games. It was developed by Takuma Yoshida, who works at Avilen,a Tokyo firm that designs AI and machine learning tools for businesses. 'The Weakest AI Othello' is an online version of the popular board game, in which the computer AI has been designed to always lose to the human player One day at work, Yoshida began to question why he was spending so much time trying to engineer software to outperform humans. He wondered whether human attitudes toward AI and robotics might be different if humans didn't always expect to be beaten by them, according to a report in the Asahi Shimbun.

Faces are far from the only thing artificial intelligence researchers want computers to recognize. One Japanese tech company has created an AI-powered camera system, called BakeryScan, that is able to recognize different types of breads and pastries. Developed by Japanese tech and media firm Brain Co., the scanning tools are currently installed in more than 400 retail locations across Japan. One of the technology's biggest clients is the Andersen Group, a chain of high-end Danish-inspired bakeries that operate across Japan, according to a report from The Asahi Shimbun. BakeryScan works through a camera that's mounted above a backlit checkout tray.

OSAKA--Summer spells fun for many, but not for air conditioner repair workers, who face incessant calls during the peak service period and often have to make repeated visits to fix a single problem. And since the average air conditioner has 2,000 or so components embedded inside, it's no easy task to figure out which parts they need to take with them when heading out on a repair call. To simplify life for those sweating to keep customers cool, leading air conditioner manufacturer Daikin Industries Ltd., based here, is relying on an artificial intelligence (AI) system to pick the parts. Few other firms in Japan are utilizing an AI system on such a large scale for repairs, Daikin officials said. As summer nears, the company's call center in Osaka's Chuo Ward begins being bombarded with calls from households and businesses requesting repairs. Callers typically complain that their air conditioner is emitting an odor or isn't effectively cooling their room.

An app powered by artificial intelligence (AI) that can read speakers' lips even if they do not enunciate words is available for those willing to collaborate in a study aimed at facilitating smooth conversation for people with speech difficulties. The lip-reading AI technology, developed by Takeshi Saito, associate professor of intelligence information studies at the Kyushu Institute of Technology, can recognize numbers from zero to nine as well as 15 words or phrases such as "a-ri-ga-to-u" (thank you) and "ha-ji-me-ma-shi-te" (nice to meet you) in the study. The app uses video to determine a user's words based combinations of estimated syllables analyzed by movements of 20 locations around the mouth of the speaker. For example, when the app interprets syllables as "a, i, ga, to, u," it can figure out that the correct word is "a-ri-ga-to-u" because "a, i, ga, to, u" has no meaning in Japanese. As it only analyzes lip movements, the app can determine particular words even when no sounds are produced.

What an innocent, carefree year it must have been to spawn so bland a word of the year. It has a nice ring to it, especially when spoken with the Hokkaido lilt the women's curling team -- surprise bronze medalists -- gave it during February's Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. So what if all it means is, "That's right"? Let 2018, the Year of the Dog, end as it began -- on a positive note. Speaking of dogs and beginnings: Sony's robot dog Aibo was a big hit at January's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

A robot has photographed a nearly intact ancient urn at the bottom of Japan's largest freshwater lake, according to Japanese national paper the Asahi Shimbun. Over the last century, a number of pottery pieces representing a huge range in timeline have been recovered from Lake Biwako, in central Japan. Archaeologists have no idea why. This urn is an example of Haji pottery, earthenware characterized by a rusty reddish-brown color that came from being baked. It measures roughly 12 to 16 inches tall, with the opening at the top measuring roughly 8 inches across, and it likely dates to the seventh or eighth century, according to the newspaper Asahi Shimbun.

Though last Sunday's Tokyo assembly elections garnered the most media attention, another contest came in a close second, even if only two people were involved. Fourteen-year-old Sota Fujii's record-setting winning streak of 29 games of shogi was finally broken on July 2 when he lost a match to 22-year-old Yuki Sasaki. Fujii has turned into a media superstar in the past year because of his youth and exceptional ability in a game that non-enthusiasts may find too cerebral to appreciate. The speed of Fujii's ascension to headline status has been purposely accelerated by the media, which treats him as not just a prodigy, but as the vanguard figure of a pastime in which the media has a stake. Press photos of Fujii's matches show enormous assemblies of reporters, video crews and photographers hovering over the kneeling opponents.

Honda Motor Co. will open a new artificial intelligence (AI) research center in Tokyo to commercialize self-driving cars in the future. Honda R&D Co., Honda's research and development subsidiary, announced on June 2 that it will establish Honda R&D Innovation Lab Tokyo by around September in Tokyo's Akasaka district. The move came as Japanese auto companies are desperately seeking personnel who specialize in the cutting-edge area. AI is viewed as the core technology to develop futuristic driverless vehicles. Honda already has a research center in the northern Kanto region, but it will set up a new facility in the capital to hire more skilled information technology engineers.