Expect high-tech cool at 2020 Tokyo Olympics

A robot directs you to your stadium seat, while artificial meteorites streak across the sky.

 

Down below, hundreds of performers decked out in traditional Japanese costumes glide through the arena.

 

You take all this in, as a multilingual translation app on your smartphone describes what's going on.

 

It sounds like science fiction, but this is the crazy vision that Japan wants to bring to life.

 

Welcome to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics -- an event that Japan hopes will symbolize the country's high-tech cool, and draw in visitors.

 

Japanese PM Shinzo Abe's show-stopping appearance at today's closing ceremony in Rio, dressed as iconic game character Super Mario, already sets the tone for what lies in store.

 

Japan is known internationally for its technological innovations, so Tokyo 2020 organizers are aiming to launch ambitious tech projects that will boost the economy and wow crowds.

 

Tourists staying next to the Olympic Village in Tokyo's Odaiba neighborhood can choose, for example, to hang out with robot helpers of all sizes and sorts that offer up tips on the best transport, food and entertainment options in Tokyo.

 

And that won't be the only place they'll encounter their robotic counterparts.

 

With the government aiming to triple their spending on robotics, visitors are sure to see them in the place of human concierges at hotels and airports, where they'll be on hand to meet and greet you.

 

Source: CNN