Japan may be experiencing somewhat of a technological malaise at the moment, with the runaway success of foreign products such as iPhone but there is still plenty going on here which will keep the country at the forefront of developments. NTT is currently offering a way to get a sneak peek into that future through its NOTE showroom. Drop by to check out a plethora of cool tech and gadgets with an eye on the coming 20 years.

The showroom is split into two floors, with the first offering a vision of a tech-dominated home. As NTT points out, currently every device and piece of technology that we use in the home is split between different products – but what if it could all be unified on one system and accessed how we please? Home ICT is the idea here, bringing together everything from the photos on your camera to the way you receive advance earthquake warnings.

With one of the world’s most advanced cellular networks (4G is launching this December), mobile phones are obviously another significant part of how NTT sees the future and the company is working with a number of content partners to unify activities such as shopping, cinema reservations and other forms of e-commerce across devices and throughout your friends and family.

Other products on show on the first floor are designed to help tackle coming social problems. For example, a real-time collaboration platform allows medical professionals working out in an isolated region to share data and knowledge with their piers back at a university hospital or research center in urban areas through low-latency,  networked video.  Useful for the future of medical care in Japan as it struggles with a shrinking population and lack of care workers.

Follow the tour up to the second floor to see corporate applications of some of this technology. One of the most powerful is digital signage that can respond to your presence. Expect to find this replacing the posters and floor plans that are currently outside office buildings with touch screens that both you and your mobile phone can interact with. The example on display allows you to find what restaurants are in your proximity, which ones currently have seating available and which ones are offering special discounts for you to take advantage of.

There is plenty more on display too. NTT Note is in Marunouchi, tours are available in English but must be reserved in advance. If you are interested, you will need to book through the official website.