Providing "CUzo" that enables AR guidance to support the management of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games

By using CUzo, it is possible to expand the functionality of the device through communication, and use highly functional services without having to install applications or high-performance hardware. In this measure, the event staff who provide information to spectators at the competition venue will carry a completely new small transparent display that conforms to the CUzo interface specifications, and they will be able to reduce the amount of speech by displaying the venue information as an aerial image, and they will also be able to provide new information by superimposing it on the venue facilities and displays.

1. Background and overview

As the world's largest sports festival, the Olympic and Paralympic Games venues will need to perform a variety of visitor operations, and the provision of information and communication will have a great deal to do with improving the spectator experience for visitors.
　NTT Laboratories has long been engaged in the research and development of communication technologies to realize user interfaces that can be used naturally by anyone, and in order to reduce the cost of realizing the various user interfaces that are required depending on the situation and the user, we have developed a technology to place the functions provided on the device side on the network. In order to reduce the cost of implementing the various user interfaces required depending on the situation and user, we have realized a technology to place the functions on the device side on the network. Furthermore, by using a transmissive display that conforms to this communication technology, we have realized an information guidance system using AR that can be easily used by anyone.
　NTT has been proposing to the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee that the staff of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games provide the best possible spectator experience.
　As a Gold Partner of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, NTT will contribute to the realization of the most innovative Games in history by providing cutting-edge communication services, and will propose new UX for the future through the evaluation of the experiment results.

2. Overview: Operational support by CUzo

NTT will conduct an experiment of a work support system for event staff using CUzo at the Olympic Stadium perimeter staff, Yoyogi National Stadium and Enoshima Yacht Harbor. Specifically, information on the venue facilities and the route to the seats will be displayed on a transparent display, which will be superimposed on the actual scenery of the venue to provide easy-to-understand guidance.
　In this project, 100 units of CUzo-compliant transparent displays, which have never been used before, will be brought to the convention staff of the three venues to contribute to the operation of the venues through CUzo functions and content transmission. (Figure 1).
　Note) The services provided may change depending on the situation.

Figure 1. Image of CUzo in use

3. Technical points

CUzo is a communication technology that reduces the functions deployed in a device by deploying the necessary functions on the network and linking them through communication.
　To solve the problem of impaired user experience due to increased processing load on the device when all functions are installed on the device, we have made it possible to provide services that can withstand actual operation by distributing each function to the optimal location on the network. Functions that require fast response are deployed on the network closer to the device, and microservices on the network function in coordination with each other to ensure performance (Figure 2). In addition, transmission of sensor and content data is now supported via streaming. This has dramatically improved the transmission of animations and the expression to the audience by increasing the response speed of each function.

Fig. 2 The CUzo distributed function communications technology