During the ongoing Ceatec electronics trade show in Tokyo, Docomo revealed their latest invention: the augmented reality headmounted device (HMD) that will be available for the visitors to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

The HMD will be supported by character recognition technology, which will immediately translate foreign signs and texts into the wearer’s native language.

The device recognises characters in Japanese, Chinese, English, and Korean. The Telegraph stated that this invention may be particularly useful for the foreign tourists who visit the most popular destinations in Japan, where translated menus are quite hard to find.

The HMD is also provided by an application that enables the wearer to turn any flat surfaces into a touch screen when they wear a finger ring, it will show icons that is only visible to the wearer. It will also supported by a facial recognition software to help the wearer identify the name and job title of the people they meet.

According to the reviews, this Docomo HMD is a potential competitor to the previously released Google Glass. According to The Telegraph, there was a study in June which show that 20 percent of 4,000 respondents think that the glasses should be banned completely due to privacy concerns.

I think some features that offered on this augmented HMD will be very useful in the future. The translation feature, for example will be helpful for those who like to travel to foreign places, it will help them to understand the native language of the place they visit and will minimize the chance of misunderstanding the texts.

But I think the facial recognition feature may be a bit disturbing for some people, since not everyone likes to have their identities acquired easily by random people. It also could be misused by irresponsible people to threaten another people.

However, it’s us who determine whether this invention will be helpful or not. It depends on how we use it and our awareness of the risks and consequences of using any kind of technology but I’m quite sure that the development of the augmented reality HMD will be highly anticipated.

Text by Vania Chandra Kirana

Photograph from Getty Images via The Telegraph