Advertisement

Tokyo Olympics: from robots to self-driving cars, Japan’s tech prowess is on display at the Games

  • Robots of all shapes and sizes will do everything from giving spectators at home an inside look at the events to picking up javelins and shot puts
  • But the organisers are also focusing on security and cyberattacks, with hackers having targeted previous Olympics

Reading Time:5 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
The Olympics is a chance for Japan to showcase cutting-edge robotics, automation and computing. Photo: Reuters

Our Tokyo Trail series looks at key issues and athletes in the run-up to the 2020 Olympics, which are scheduled for late July. This is the third of three stories on the use of technology and innovation at the Games.

Advertisement
As soon as Tokyo was named the host city for the 2020 Olympic Games, the Japanese government – with the enthusiastic support of companies in the nation’s hi-tech sectors – decided it would make the occasion the most innovative and technologically advanced sporting event ever staged.
It was a sensible approach. While Beijing in 2008 opted for a demonstration of raw power on a grand scale, complete with pyrotechnics, and London four years later brought out Mr Bean, James Bond and the national sense of humour, for Japan it was a chance to showcase cutting-edge robotics, automation and computing.

The government even planned an expo to showcase 200 additional technological innovations, with the likes of deep-sea exploration submarines and a lunar rover developed by Toyota and the Japanese space agency on display. It opened earlier this week in the capital – but with no foreigners allowed into Japan to watch the Games, the audience that will bear witness to Japan’s hi-tech prowess has shrunk even further.

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga (centre) stands by a remote-controlled guide robot at Haneda international airport in Tokyo. Photo: Kyodo
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga (centre) stands by a remote-controlled guide robot at Haneda international airport in Tokyo. Photo: Kyodo
Advertisement

It’s a development lamented by Morinosuke Kawaguchi, a technology strategist and futurist who was previously a lecturer at the Tokyo Institute of Technology.

Advertisement