Japan Airlines and Toppan said Tuesday that they have begun at Tokyo's Haneda Airport a demonstration test of the clear-screen translation system developed by the printing company. The system can automatically translate spoken words into 13 languages, including English and Korean, and quickly display the translated words and sentences on its transparent screen. It also shows words entered with a keyboard. With its clear screen, the system enables speakers to talk while seeing each other's faces. It is designed to rapidly provide information to foreign travelers and people with hearing difficulties. The trial will be conducted at counters at Haneda Airport's Terminal 1 until Monday and at Osaka International Airport, also known as Itami Airport, in August.

ANA Holdings Inc., the operator of All Nippon Airways Co., said Wednesday it has started testing a semi-autonomous bus that will transport passengers and staff working at Tokyo's Haneda Airport. The company will conduct the test with the electric bus capable of carrying 57 passengers on a 1.9-kilometer route through the end of this month, aiming to start trial operation later in the year. The vehicle, with level-3 automation, allows drivers to turn their attention away from driving and engage in different tasks. "As the Tokyo Olympics are approaching, we hope more passengers from around the world will see our latest technology," ANA Senior Executive Vice President Shinzo Shimizu said in a ceremony at the airport. In 2018, the number of passengers who arrived at and departed from the airport increased 2.1 percent to 85 million, according to Japan Airport Terminal Co. which manages the Haneda Airport facilities.

Trials have begun at Haneda Airport in Tokyo on next-generation self-driving electric wheelchairs to help elderly and other people get to boarding gates more easily. Japan Airlines aims to start using self-driving wheelchairs as early as the business year that starts next April. Currently, JAL offers manual wheelchairs at airports across the country. The self-driving wheelchairs JAL aims to introduce are designed to allow users to move without any escort. They automatically return to their home positions after use, making it unnecessary for workers to go and collect them.

Visitors to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics can expect to arrive at an airport with robots "scattered" about to help them, an official said Tuesday as he unveiled seven new machines to perform tasks from helping with luggage to language assistance. Among the seven robots on show was a fluffy cat mascot that can carry out simultaneous interpretation in four different languages. Visitors speak into a furry microphone, and translations appear instantly on a smart screen. Travelers may also be approached by a small white humanoid robot, Cinnamon, asking if they need its help. The sleek white robot can converse with visitors through its AI system and give directions.

The Justice Ministry has unveiled unmanned facial recognition gates that will be introduced at Haneda airport on Wednesday to speed up immigration procedures for Japanese citizens. The system can judge whether passport photos match images of travelers taken by cameras at the gates in about 10 seconds, the ministry said Friday. The system will kick off Wednesday with three gates for Japanese nationals returning home. The ministry hopes to introduce the system at Narita, Chubu and Kansai international airports in fiscal 2018, expanding it to include departing Japanese nationals. At the new gates, travelers will be required to remove hats and masks and stand in front of a mirror-like display where photos will be taken.

Air travelers with disabilities will have a much easier time navigating one of Japan's main airports, thanks to new smart wheel chairs. Haneda Airport outside Tokyo is beginning tests of the WHILL NEXT, an app-controlled self-driving wheel chair that can take users around the airport and even bring their luggage in a separate wireless vehicle behind them. It is hoped the system will be in place, alongside new smart billboards and navigation apps, in time for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Designed specifically for navigating crowded areas, the smart wheel chair also has several other features that make it perfect for airports, such as the ability to link to sensor-equipped luggage carts that automatically follow the wheelchair without getting lost. The WHILL NEXT uses sensors and image recognition to detect obstacles and navigate the airport.

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Visitors arriving to Japan through Tokyo's Haneda airport will soon be greeted by a fleet of tiny humanoid robots. Standing just 90 centimetres tall, the humanoid named'EMIEW3' will guide users to the proper destination at the terminal and has the ability to communicate in both Japanese and English. Hitachi Ltd began its trials with the robots on Friday, and it's hoped that these assistants will be able to perform autonomously as early as December. Visitors arriving to Japan through Tokyo's Haneda airport will soon be greeted by a fleet of tiny humanoid robots. Standing just 90 centimetres tall, the humanoid named'EMIEW3' has the ability to communicate in both Japanese and English Trials will run through December at the airport's domestic Terminal 2, The Japan Times reports.

It's a modest test, but it's ramping up to something much more impressive: In December, the robot is scheduled to return to the airport as a guide. Visitors will be able to ask for directions to say, the currency exchange counter, and EMIEW3 will physically lead them there. Neat! Hitachi's bot is particularly well suited to the task because of it's mobility: it can zip along at a steady 3.7MPH and even pick itself up if it falls down. Just don't ask it to take you directly to your gate -- airport security probably isn't used to clearing robots.