2020 Town―Web Design Converter for Providing Guidance Assistance to Individuals in Cities

1. Introduction

Digital signage systems that transmit information using display screens and other display processes are in wide use today. The efficient way in which they display information by effectively using moving images and space makes them a useful means of providing information about cities.

However, two important issues must be taken into account in developing such systems. First, with the international sporting events scheduled to be held in Tokyo in 2020, the number of foreign visitors to Japan is expected to increase greatly during the next few years. Second, Japan faces the problem of a rapidly aging population. To address these issues, it has become essential to develop systems that meet the needs of a greater variety of users. This, however, makes it necessary to create content on an individual basis, which brings added costs.

Accordingly, we at NTT Service Evolution Laboratories are working to develop web design/conversion technology with which content can be converted to make it easier to understand. This will enable us to provide content that will meet service aims and that will match the characteristics of individuals such as their age group and the language they speak. We call the product that utilizes this technology the Web Design Converter, and we have demonstrated a prototype of it at various exhibitions [1, 2].

By using this technology to create digital signage content, we expect to be able to not only reduce content creation costs but also to provide content such as information about local events in a timely manner. We believe that the Web Design Converter digital signage system is a useful tool for providing city guidance to individuals according to their personal characteristics, and that by making it available to users worldwide we can achieve a world in which a universal town development approach is emphasized.

2. Overview of Web Design Converter

Web Design Converter comprises an automatic design conversion function and a function for automatically generating supplementary information. The automatic design conversion function is used for providing translated information for foreign visitors. In addition, it presents information in an easy-to-understand way in accordance with user and service aims by converting the information structure, fonts, and colors. It does so by applying the information and communication technology service design principles NTT Service Evolution Laboratories has developed and fostered based on user characteristic surveys. This function makes it easy to provide UI (user interface) design applications that take usability into account (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1. Example features of automatic design conversion function.

The function for automatically generating supplementary information uses information on the Internet to automatically generate supplementary information about commercial products and the like [3]. For example, if the signage for foreign visitors in a restaurant simply translates a dish as “A mackerel merou” [namerou], they will likely not be able to clearly understand what sort of dish it is. This function can help them by adding further information such as, “A traditional food of Chiba Prefecture.” It may also further their understanding by making comparisons to things they are familiar with, such as, “It’s like ‘tartar for appetizers.’” The translations are provided by machine learning, and as research in this field advances, the resulting translations are expected to improve in accuracy.

3. Example implementation of restaurant service

Applying the Web Design Converter technology to websites that introduce the type of food a restaurant serves enables users to automatically generate content such as that in the storefront signage and the in-store menu terminal.

4. Future development

In the future, we plan to expand the template so that it will be able to handle a wide variety of signage display devices, including smartphones and tablets. We also plan to carry out field trials on how to use the technology, for example, how to use it to provide details on store information or events being held within the city. We aim to use the feedback results to achieve early practical applications of the system. We anticipate that appropriate information will be provided by various contributors such as citizens and local governments, so we will strive to develop a universal town that can be understood by all.

We encourage anyone who is interested in this technology to contact us.

References

	Kiyoshi Nakahama Senior Research Engineer, Universal UX Design Project, NTT Service Evolution Laboratories. He received a B.E. in engineering from Muroran Institute of Technology, Hokkaido, in 1990. He joined NTT in 1990 and has been engaged in research and development of an IC (integrated circuit) card public telephone, shared use personal computers, Next Generation Network (NGN) appliances, and an NGN development support environment. He is a member of the Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers (IEICE).
	Yuji Morinishi Senior Research Engineer, Universal UX Design Project, NTT Service Evolution Laboratories. He received a B.E. and M.E. in engineering from Kyoto Institute of Technology in 1994 and 1996. He joined NTT Service Evolution Laboratories (formerly NTT Human Interface Laboratories) in 1996. His research interests include Internet protocol video distribution systems and telecommunication systems for telephony services.
	Masahiro Watanabe Senior Research Engineer, Universal UX Design Project, NTT Service Evolution Laboratories. He received a B.E. and M.E. in mechanical engineering and a Dr.E. in electronics, information, and communication engineering from Waseda University, Tokyo, in 1991, 1993, and 2003. He joined NTT in 1993. His research interests include human-computer interaction, human-centered design, and universal design. He is a member of IEICE, the Human Interface Society (HIS), and the Acoustical Society of Japan.
	Sayaka Teranaka Research Engineer, Universal UX Design Project, NTT Service Evolution Laboratories. She received a B.E. and M.E. in engineering from Keio University, Tokyo, in 2004 and 2006. She joined NTT Cyber Solutions Laboratories (now NTT Service Evolution Laboratories) in 2006 and has been developing a knowledge sharing system using a video-scene-linked bulletin board (SceneKnowledge).
	Rika Mochizuki Researcher, Universal UX Design Project, NTT Service Evolution Laboratories. She received her B.E., M.E., and Ph.D. in engineering from Chuo University, Tokyo, in 2007, 2009, and 2011. She joined NTT in 2009. She has been a visiting researcher at Chuo University since 2009. Her research interests include color vision compensation, life-log processing, and their applications for communication support. She received the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Award of the 23th Grand Prize for Frontier Technology: Pave a New Way for Creativity, and a best paper award from IEICE in 2009. She is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Commission Internationale de l’Éclairage (International Commission on Illumination), IEICE, HIS, the Computer Software Association of Japan, and the Information Processing Society of Japan.