Panasonic has developed a megaphone that translates the user's speech into different languages.
Megaphoneyaku - "yaku" meaning "translation" in Japanese - is a digital megaphone that uses a built-in computer to translate the user's speech from Japanese to Chinese, Korean, or English when amplified.
The device was developed to help public officials quickly and easily disseminate vital information to groups of people speaking different languages - for example groups of international tourists - in chaotic instances such as natural disasters.
Panasonic developed Megaphoneyaku in response to issues of miscommunication which came to the fore in 2014, when Japanese airport staff struggled to communicate with stranded foreign travellers in the wake of devastating floods.
Japan is commonly regarded as particularly prone to natural disasters, specifically floods, tsunamis, typhoons, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions.
In a Megaphoneyaku demonstration, a worker announces "The bus is coming," in Japanese, and the Megaphoneyaku amplifies this announcement before repeating it in Chinese, Korean, and English.
Tokyo's Narita International Airport announced in November that it would soon be testing the device.
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