DOCOMO develops multilingual app for disaster warnings

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NTT DOCOMO has developed a prototype multilingual app for its Early Warning “Area Mail” service that will enable emergency warnings of impending earthquakes or tsunamis in five foreign languages. The app will allow people in Japan who do not speak Japanese to receive warnings, both written and verbal, in English, Chinese, Korean, Spanish or Portuguese.

The Early Warning “Area Mail” service, which was originally launched in February 2012, distributes earthquake early warnings and tsunami warnings issued by the Japan Meteorological Agency, and also local disaster and evacuation information (in Japanese only) issued by national and regional public institutions. The service is designed to function reliably even when mobile networks become congested with heavy traffic.

In the case of an impending earthquake, for example, an early warning will be issued to people in the predicted area, causing users’ smartphones to begin making a distinctive alarm-like sound followed by a voice readout saying “Earthquake” in the preset language. Simultaneously, the phone will display an Area Mail message that reads “Earthquake Warning: Strong shaking is expected soon. Stay calm and seek shelter nearby.”

The multilingual text messages have been prepared with support from the Japan Meteorological Agency. DOCOMO developed the app under the Cross-ministerial Strategic Innovation Promotion Program, which is administered by the Council for Science, Technology and Innovation.