Sendai City Showcases BOSAI-TECH Innovations at Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai

NewsRelease

Sendai City Showcases BOSAI-TECH Innovations at Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai

2025.06.23

Sound Corporation
ASSOCIATION FOR PROMOTION OF BOSAI-DIORAMA

The Regional Revitalization SDGs Festival (*1) was held at the Osaka-Kansai Expo from May 28 to June 1. Local governments from across Japan exhibited diverse initiatives centered on regional revitalization and SDGs, attracting over 40,000 visitors over the five days.

Sendai City exhibited under the theme “BOSAI-TECH,” which uses technology to solve disaster prevention challenges. The city introduced its latest solutions, currently being demonstrated and implemented locally, through an interactive booth. Many families were seen at the venue, providing an opportunity for people of all ages to learn about Sendai's disaster prevention efforts.

Exhibition Content

Sendai Disaster VR

VR content designed to enhance disaster awareness and promote preparedness. It allows users to safely experience the psychological and physical reactions during a disaster, providing a realistic understanding of the importance of disaster preparedness. Visitors experienced the “Tsunami/Flood Edition” VR at the booth.

Disaster Prevention Administrative Radio Audio Clarification Technology

A solution utilizing AI technology to emphasize and clarify audio, addressing the challenge of difficulty hearing high-pitched sounds (consonants) due to factors like outdoor noise, weather, and age-related hearing loss. Introduced in our city in March 2023, the booth allowed visitors to compare audio samples.

Visualizing Flood-Prone Areas with Cardboard Dioramas

A modular diorama where cardboard cut along contour lines is stacked like a puzzle, allowing intuitive understanding of regional topography and land elevation. At the booth, we overlaid Osaka city areas (around the Expo site) with hazard maps and displayed them using AR, enabling visitors to visually experience disaster risks.

At the exhibition venue, we directly heard comments and impressions such as: “The tsunami's speed was beyond what I imagined,” “I felt AI technology was accessible,” “I had no idea my home was in a flood zone,” and “I need to prepare for the Nankai Trough earthquake.” These responses confirmed our booth served as a catalyst for learning and awareness among visitors.