Choosing a factory tour guide with multilingual and English support: What's the difference between an audio guide and a telepresence robot?
The importance of English support during factory tours

English interpretation guides at factories are extremely important for business partners expanding overseas and for foreign tourists. They are effective for corporate and product branding and business negotiations.
Some companies provide audio guides instead of interpreters, but recently autonomous avatar robots have become an increasingly popular option. Why has this change occurred? In this article, we will introduce the current issues surrounding factory tours that require English support, compare audio guides and avatar robots as tools, and introduce the benefits of adopting them.
Current issues with English/multilingual support in factory tours
Communication between overseas visitors and foreign staff would be difficult without an English-speaking interpreter or guide. However, hiring an interpreter or guide can be expensive, and it can be difficult to always have the same person available.
Shortage of interpreters
It is becoming more and more difficult to hire English guides with industry expertise. In order to guide factory tours in English, you need staff who can speak English fluently. However, many factories have a shortage of English speakers, and the number of people who can respond is limited. It is even more difficult to arrange an interpreter when you suddenly request an interpreter a few days later, rather than hiring one on a permanent basis.
Inconsistent guidance
When English guides are provided by humans, there is a lack of consistency in the content of the explanations. Because each guide's knowledge and experience is dependent on the guide, the explanations may differ, which can be confusing for visitors. In addition, the use of technical terms and the level of detail in the explanations vary from guide to guide, making it difficult to maintain uniformity in quality.
High cost response
Factory tours in English are expensive. There are personnel costs for hiring English-speaking staff and costs for arranging for external interpreters. Training and preparation also take time and money, placing a heavy burden on factory operations. It is also possible to ask employees who can handle the tours to do so, but this can be a burden on employees' regular work, and there are cases where explanations are not conveyed adequately due to a lack of knowledge of specialized English.
What is the difference between an audio guide and an avatar robot? Comparison as a multilingual means for factory tours
What is an audio guide?

An audio guide is an automated information system used in tourist spots, museums, factories, etc. Users are given a device, such as headphones, that provides pre-programmed audio information and can convey the necessary information like a guide. Another feature is that it is multilingual and can explain specialized knowledge.
What is a telepresence robot?

Telepresence avatar robots (hereafter referred to as telerobots) are primarily of two types: one type that replaces a fixed information counter installed in one place, and the other type that can move autonomously and explain things while walking around the facility like a human. The latter type of telerobot that can move autonomously around the facility is increasingly being adopted by companies as a replacement for interpreter guides and audio guides. As it can speak like a human, it can play the same role as an audio guide. People in remote locations can provide real-time guidance, and there are also telerobots that can conduct automated guided tours through prior programming.
How temi can automate factory guidance
Therefore, automated guidance and multilingual support using Telerobo are gaining attention. By programming Telerobo, it is possible to automate factory guidance and create tours in Japanese and other languages.
temi’s automated explanation robot function
Telerobo temi is a next-generation humanoid mobile robot with flexibility. It has a friendly appearance with a 13.3-inch monitor, and its main functions are "automatic explanation robot function" and "videophone robot function."
With temi's automated guided robot function, you can walk around the facility with pre-programmed information and conduct a guided tour using AI audio, video, and background music speakers with just one click on the display. It accurately conveys information and provides a consistent, high-quality guide to visitors during factory tours.
temi English/Multilingual Support
temi can handle multiple languages, which is in demand for factory tours, and the AI voice can create guided tours with native pronunciation in 18 languages*, including Japanese, English, and Chinese. This solves issues such as a shortage of English speakers, inconsistent guidance, and high costs. In addition, it is easy to operate, and an automatic guided tour can be started by simply pressing a button displayed on the touch panel. Guided tours can be created with no coding using an intuitive interface, so on-site personnel can create them. *English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese, Korean, German, Indonesian, Arabic, Portuguese, Français (Canada), Spanish, Hebrew, Thai, and Italian. (As of August 2024)
Flow of creating a factory tour using temi’s “automatic explanation robot function”


Comparison of audio guide and temi guide robot
Reduced labor and training costs
Both the audio guide and temi will eliminate the need to hire English guide staff, reducing labor costs.
This also cuts down on the cost of arranging external interpreters, significantly reducing overall costs. In addition, when new staff take on the role of guiding factory tours, they no longer need complex training, allowing them to start their work efficiently.
Consistent interpretation support
Both the audio guide and temi can provide the same explanation every time, ensuring consistent interpretation quality.
This provides a consistent experience for your visitors by providing the same information every time, so they understand exactly what is going on in your factory without having to give different explanations.
Flexibility in updating content
Can the audio guide and temi be flexibly modified if the content they are providing changes?
The English guides are flexible and will respond when the exhibit content within the factory is updated or the information changes, and this flexibility is the key to the success of the implementation.
- Audio guide: Updating audio guide content requires a company to make even small changes, which can be expensive and requires new recordings or device reprogramming.
- temi: Updating temi’s content is easy. By logging in to the temi center from any browser, you can make configuration changes remotely from anywhere. New information can be added instantly, ensuring your users always have the most up-to-date and relevant information.
Tour time management
Can audio guides and temi manage the time of the tours they guide?
If you let the English interpreter know in advance how many minutes you would like the tour to end, they will guide the visitors and manage the time. It is important to finish work on time in order to reduce the burden on the site management.
- Audio guide: Visitors follow the tour route at their own pace, listen to the audio guide, and explore the area until they are satisfied, making it difficult to manage and predict tour times.
- temi: Like a guide-interpreter, temi gives explanations at pre-set times and guides you to the next information corner, so the tour time is consistent every time. Because the robot moves and guides you like a guide-interpreter, it solves time management issues while providing a dynamic and engaging guided experience.
Maintenance and Hygiene:
Is there any difference in maintenance performance between the audio guide and temi?
While they can provide more consistent and reassuring professional explanations than English guides, understanding what kind of maintenance is required for introducing machinery is also one of the keys to successful introduction.
- Audio guide: High-activity locations require constant cleaning and maintenance, and are a pain to keep clean and functional. Each device needs to be charged.
- temi: Temi provides a contactless experience, reducing the need for maintenance, as visitors do not need to physically touch it. Temi also undergoes regular system updates, so there is no need for administrators to bother. After the tour is over, it is set to automatically return to its charging dock, reducing the burden of maintenance.
Automated guidance for factory tours - temi case study
Zensei Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. is a pharmaceutical manufacturer that has been in business for over 70 years, and is actively introducing cutting-edge unmanned equipment. The company's Izumi factory has adopted temi as a tour guide for factory tours. The introduction of temi has improved the work efficiency of factory tours, reduced staff working hours by approximately 70%, and reduced the burden on staff.
temi's consistent, high-quality guided tours have improved visitor satisfaction and deepened their understanding of the factory's production processes. Guided tours are available in both Japanese and English and are used for business purposes, such as guiding customers around the factory, recruiting activities, and employee training.
Introduction and Contact for temi
temi is an automated guide robot equipped with highly accurate voice recognition and translation functions. It can provide multilingual support for factory tours, and is particularly good at guiding in English. The introduction of temi will solve issues such as a shortage of English speakers, inconsistent guidance, and high costs, and provide efficient, high-quality guides.



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