Hokkaido Trivia – Have You Already Downloaded Uni-Voice?

I imagine you’re in the midst of the excitement of planning your summer travels. I’ve been traveling around Hokkaido the past weeks (mostly work related), and I realized that many facilities here have adopted the Uni-Voice system to their displays.

Uni-Voice, as I understand from their website, is a cell phone application that presents related information by audio and text when the code on the subject is scanned by the cell phone. It was developed in Japan for the purpose of helping the blind people, and now it’s entered the phase of helping the non-Japanese speaking tourists. The fantastic point about Uni-Voice is that it works without internet connection! And it comes in 20 languages!

If you’re traveling in Japan with no guides, this is one tool you must have with you. It will definitely lessen your frustration towards the lack of information on the main displays at museums (which I always feel). I am not trying to make propaganda for this application, but it will make your activities here much more fun for sure!

Please take a look at the pictures for further reference.

The picture underneath shows how it’s used. There are 4 codes on the left hand bottom, each for different language. Although the panel already gives a short explanation of this volcanic-related nature in Japanese and English, tourists can get a more detailed information on the subject in 4 languages by just scanning the code.