A foreign language simultaneous conversation system is being piloted, with foreigners and station staff speaking in their own languages in front of a transparent organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display.
SEOUL, Dec 5 (Korea Bizwire) –To make it easier for tourists in Seoul, the subway system has set up a “foreign language simultaneous conversation system” using fancy tech like artificial intelligence. They started testing it on Line 4 at Myeongdong Station on December 4.
At first, they put the system in the customer safety room at Myeongdong Station on Line 4 because that station is popular with foreigners. After trying it out for four months, they plan to expand it to five more stations over the next 24 years. These stations are Seoul Station, Itaewon Station, Gimpo Airport Station, Gwanghwamun Station, and Hongik University Station.
A Japanese man asks, “How do I get to Incheon Airport?” using the Foreign Language Simultaneous Conversation System installed at Myeongdong Station on Seoul Subway Line 4. The Myeongdong station staff replies in Korean, “You can go to Seoul Station and change to the airport train,” which is immediately translated into Japanese on the screen.
The system uses a see-through OLED display that shows information on both sides. This lets foreigners and station staff look at the display together and have a smooth, hassle-free conversation in different languages. The system supports 13 languages, including Korean. People can choose their preferred language on the system’s start screen.
The 13 languages include English, Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese, Thai, Bahasa Malaysia, Indonesian, Spanish, French, German, Arabic, Russian, and Korean.
To make it easy for foreigners and station staff to use, the system has touchscreens and both wired and wireless microphones.
This helps users quickly get accurate information about using the subway. The screen also offers extra services like finding routes, checking fares based on subway maps, and information about T-Locker and T-Luggage.
The company that built it tested the system with foreigners for about a month to make sure people liked it. They also fixed any issues to make the system better. They improved how the system recognizes words like station names and solved problems with noise in the station by using special microphones and noise-canceling tech to make the system more reliable.
Image credit: The Seoul Metro, Yonhap / photonews@koreabizwire.com
