NTT laments lost opportunity to showcase technology at Tokyo Olympics

Japanese companies like Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. lament the missed opportunity for their products to take center stage with the lack of spectators in the Olympic games.

NTT wanted to showcase its communication technology called Kirari, which offers a visual experience that lets viewers at a remote site feel as if they're inside the stadium where the sporting event is happening.

The company had worked on Kirari since 2013 when Tokyo was awarded the hosting of the 2020 Summer Games.

As the Tokyo Olympics is hailed as a prime opportunity to showcase the latest in Japanese technology and futuristic visions, NTT was hoping to showcase Kirari and other technologies to domestic and global audiences.

Shingo Kinoshita of NTT Human Informatics Laboratories who led the development of Kirari expressed his disappointment in not unveiling the technology to the public.

On July 30, NTT showed at the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation, in Tokyo’s Koto Ward an Olympic badminton match being played at the Musashino Forest Sport Plaza in Chofu, western Tokyo, which is 20 kilometers away.

Using artificial intelligence, the images and sounds of badminton players were all captured by 8K cameras.

The company is expected to seek ways to apply the technology at various sports events held abroad.

NTT Docomo Inc. intended to promote its “5G” technology at the Olympics by using augmented reality to let fans view competitions and related data on wearable smart glasses.