Arya News - Tablet devices and microphones are placed on a counter and elsewhere in Contentz. The screens displayed the surrounding areas in different colors, and subtitles appeared as soon as a customer or the proprietress behind the counter spoke.
TOKYO – A snack bar in the Gotanda district of Tokyo where “conversations are visible” allows customers who are hard of hearing to easily understand what is being said in the noisy environment thanks to the use of speech recognition technology powered by artificial intelligence.
People who are hard of hearing tend to feel excluded in gatherings with many people, but the system used at the bar supports them by converting the speech of the people around them into subtitles without a noticeable time lag.
The snack bar, Contentz, is operated by Pixie Dust Technologies, Inc., a Tokyo-based startup out of the University of Tsukuba. The company in 2023 developed the Vuevo speech recognition system and uses it at the snack bar, which is open on the third Thursday of every month.
In late July, tablet devices and microphones were placed on a counter and elsewhere in Contentz, which occupies about 30 square meters on the second floor of a multi-tenant building. The screens displayed the surrounding areas in different colors and subtitles appeared as soon as a customer or the proprietress behind the counter spoke.
“It’s great to be able to pick up the vibe of the conversation,” a 53-year-old homemaker said happily.
“Since standard speech recognition apps cannot keep up with the tempo of conversations of those with good hearing, I would become stressed and I stopped going to lunch gatherings and other events,” she said, and spent time enjoying conversations with proprietress Mina Yoshida and her fellow customers.
According to Pixie Dust Technologies, while the spread of AI speech recognition apps has made it easier for people who are hard of hearing to have one-on-one conversations, handling meetings where multiple people are exchanging opinions has remained a challenge. With the hiring of people with disabilities increasing, Vuevo has been well-received and introduced at about 300 companies.
Based on the premise that many people who are hard of hearing struggle with social activities as well as work, Pixie Dust Technologies organized an event for people who are hard of hearing to experience a maid cafe in June last year.
In June this year, the company opened the snack bar. It decided to make it a regular event as the nine participants all agreed that society needed such places.
“While babies and the elderly with hearing loss tend to receive good care, there is little support for those who are part of the working population, and many of them are having difficulties,” said Natsuki Kawada, 35, an employee at Pixie Dust Technologies and speech therapist who was involved in Vuevo’s development. “We hope to help them live more independently.”