TOKYO, April 15 — With 100 days left until this summer’s Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, sponsor companies are deploying state-of-art technologies to entertain game viewers across the world, seeking to overcome restrictions related to the new coronavirus pandemic.
Amid the virus crisis, the Tokyo Games organising committee has decided not to allow spectators from abroad for the games. Restrictions on domestic fans are also expected, reported Jiji Press.
On Tuesday, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp recorded an event for the Osaka leg of the Olympic torch relay held at the Expo’70 Commemorative Park in Suita in the western Japan prefecture from multiple angles.
It shared the videos of the event for people to watch on their smartphones on a trial basis.
The company plans to offer such services for other events in the future.
“I want people to enjoy watching videos that make them feel like they are at the venues,” an NTT official said.
NTT Docomo Inc, the mobile phone arm of NTT, has set up base stations for 5G next-generation wireless networks preferentially around Tokyo Games venues, aiming to promote the ultrahigh-speed communications technology.
NTT Docomo has been considering offering 5G-based services during the Tokyo Games period.
But it has been difficult for the company to proceed with plans, as no decision has yet been made on whether to allow domestic spectators, according to a person related to the company.
The other two major domestic mobile phone carriers, KDDI Corp and SoftBank Corp, have also reinforced their 5G base stations, even though they are not sponsoring the Tokyo Games.
Toyota Motor Corp’s e-Palette autonomous electric vehicles are set to be used to transport athletes and officials at the athletes’ village.
NEC Corp plans to offer its facial recognition system for use at the athletes’ village and media centres to help ensure smooth operations.
