City of Kyoto

Breaking down language and communication barriers in public services

Enhancing Communication with all visitors

Cotopat screen technology has been successfully deployed across Kyoto City government offices, including 11 ward offices and three satellite branches.

The municipal administration is actively pursuing the digitalisation of services to create smart civic centres, guided by a core philosophy of compassionate digital transformation that ensures inclusivity for all citizens.

The adoption of this solution forms part of a broader strategy to enhance frontline service interactions, supporting elderly residents, individuals with hearing impairments, and international visitors or foreign residents who may require additional communication support.

Background to System Implementation

• Advancing the digitalisation of council services as part of the broader smart local government initiative

   

• Driving innovative approaches to enhance the quality and accessibility for the wider community

Key Factors Influencing Selection

• Positive public feedback highlighting improved accessibility following the one-month pilot program

• Anticipated dual benefits: improved community experience and increased operational efficiency across public-facing services

Enhancing Accessibility and Council Service Efficiency

Following a month-long trial of the Cotopat Screen technology in 2023, the City of Kyoto received positive feedback from residents, with comments including: "Exceptionally clear and convenient to use", "Would be invaluable at service points", and "Despite wearing hearing aids, I sometimes struggle to follow conversations, so this system proved tremendously helpful".

The technology has since been strategically installed at Disability and Wellbeing Services counters, with expectations of improving citizen accessibility while enhancing operational productivity. By effectively addressing hearing-related communication barriers across a range of scenarios, the Cotopat Screen enables seamless interactions regardless of age, disability or nationality, while supporting the council’s broader smart governance ambitions.

 

Real-time Captioning

Accurately converts speech into clear, readable text with intelligent context correction. Supports people with hearing loss, ageing Australians and anyone who benefits from visual reinforcement during conversations.

 

Visual Communication

Displays text, diagrams and videos to help explain complex information, enabling clearer communication across languages and literacy levels.

 

 

Multilingual Support

Real‑time, two-way translation supporting 73 languages, empowering culturally and linguistically diverse communities to participate independently.

Real‑time speech recognition

Real-time speech-to-text captioning

Recognises speech in realtime and displays it as captions. With enhanced conversation accuracy through intelligent adjustment of text breaks and punctuation based on context, the system delivers captions that flow naturally and are easy to follow.

Enhanced understanding through diagrams and videos

Enhanced understanding through diagrams and videos

Cotopat displays diagrams and videos alongside conversation to communicate information that might be difficult to convey through words alone.

Multi-language translation display

Multi-language translation display

Cotopat translate and displays the speaker's words. With support for two-way translation, you can accurately communicate information to people from across Australia and beyond.

Two-way translation display support

Two-way translation display support

Spoken words are translated into the other person's language and displayed in their orientation. Our system supports translation display in 134 languages, with 73 languages available for two-way interaction with translation functionality as of May 2025.

AI-powered conversation summaries

AI-conversation summaries

When users agree and wish to have a summary, Cotopat records conversation logs* to provide AI-generated conversation summaries for visitors via secure QR code access. Visitors can easily share conversation content with people who weren't present at the meeting.

*can be enabled/displayed via administrator settings.

Simple operation with numeric keypad only

Simple operation with numeric keypad only

When users agree and wish to have a summary, Cotopat records conversation logs* to provide AI-generated conversation summaries for customers.