第1910期:Japanese Railway Tests a System to Help Visitors

Japanese railway operator, Seibu, is testing a special help desk for foreigners at one of the company’s busiest train stations.↳ Visitors who need help at the Seibu-Shinjuku station in Tokyo can go to an information window and ask questions. About 135,000 people per day pass through the Seibu-Shinjuku station. To get help, a person just speaks into a microphone. A system called VoiceBiz listens to their words and displays them on the window in Japanese. The railway worker can see the question and reply in Japanese. Then VoiceBiz translates the answer into a language the person who needs help can understand. The system works with Japanese and 11 other languages.

日本铁路运营商西武铁路正在该公司最繁忙的火车站之一测试针对外国人的特殊服务台。在东京西武新宿站需要帮助的游客可以前往信息窗口提问。 西武新宿站每天约有 135,000 人次通过。要获得帮助，人们只需对着麦克风说话即可。 一个名为 VoiceBiz 的系统会聆听他们所说的话，并将其用日语显示在窗口上。 铁路工作人员可以看到日语的问题和回复。 然后 VoiceBiz 将答案翻译成需要帮助的人可以理解的语言。 该系统支持日语和其他 11 种语言。

Rail stations throughout Japan are very busy this summer. More than 2 million people visited Japan in June, the most since before 2020. COVID-19 restrictions barred most foreign travelers for a long time. Kevin Khani was visiting Japan from Germany. He tried out the VoiceBiz system recently after getting confused in Seibu’s Shinjuku station.He said the translations were “spot on,” which means they were exactly right. He also said it is nice to see that there is a human working at the window. “So, you take your time to explain what you need, and you will know that they will understand what you need," he said.

今年夏天，日本各地的火车站都非常繁忙。 6 月份访问日本的人数超过 200 万人，是 2020 年以来的最高水平。COVID-19 限制措施长期禁止大多数外国游客入境。凯文·卡尼 (Kevin Khani) 从德国访问日本。 最近，他在西武新宿站感到困惑后，尝试了 VoiceBiz 系统。他说翻译是“准确的”，这意味着它们完全正确。 他还说很高兴看到有人在窗口工作。“所以，你花时间解释你的需求，你就会知道他们会理解你的需求，”他说。

The Seibu railway has been testing the VoiceBiz system for three months. After that time, the company will consider using it in additional stations. Ayano Yajima is a sales and marketing official for Seibu. Yajima said looking at each other adds to the “smoothness of communication.” Toppan is the company that makes VoiceBiz. It tested the window at Kansai International Airport near Osaka earlier this year. It hopes to sell the windows to businesses and government offices in Japan so they can communicate with travelers and immigrants.

西武铁路已经对 VoiceBiz 系统进行了三个月的测试。 在此之后，该公司将考虑在其他车站使用它。矢岛彩乃 (Ayano Yajima) 是西武百货公司的销售和营销官员。 矢岛说，互相看着对方可以增加“沟通的顺畅度”。Toppan 是开发 VoiceBiz 的公司。 今年早些时候，它在大阪附近的关西国际机场测试了该窗户。 它希望将这些窗户出售给日本的企业和政府机构，以便他们能够与旅行者和移民进行沟通。

The company believes the Shinjuku area is a good testing place. The busiest railway station in the world is nearby – 3.6 million people use the Japan Railway station in Shinjuku. Many people use the Seibu train to get to other trains and subways and go to other places in Tokyo or the rest of Japan. As a result, there is a high chance that someone gets lost or needs help.French visitors Isabelle and Marc Rigaud used the help window to find their way from the Seibu station to the Japan Railway station. They had just gotten off an airplane at 1 in the morning, local time.“It’s very Japan,” Isabelle said of the technology.

该公司认为新宿地区是一个很好的测试地点。 世界上最繁忙的火车站就在附近 – 360 万人使用位于新宿的日本火车站。 许多人乘坐西武列车前往其他火车和地铁，前往东京或日本其他地方的其他地方。 因此，有人迷路或需要帮助的可能性很高。法国游客 Isabelle 和 Marc Rigaud 使用帮助窗口找到了从西武站到日本火车站的路线。 当地时间凌晨1点，他们刚刚下了飞机。“这非常日本，”伊莎贝尔谈到这项技术时说道。