Japan’s service sector is famous for its extreme detail when it comes to serving customers, and the country itself is so safe that it’s not uncommon to hear of a person losing their wallet and having it returned days later with all the cash intact.

Nevertheless, lost items left behind by careless passengers have become so common in Tokyo that one taxi company has decided to address the problem with a technological solution.

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Kokusai Motorcars has teamed up with local tech consultancy Ideacross to develop a system that alerts the driver when a passenger has left an item behind. According to a report in Japan’s Nikkei, the system consists of four cameras; one under the driver’s seat, one under the front passenger seat, one on the ceiling and one in the car’s trunk.

The system works by comparing before and after images of the areas photographed. If the system detects an item left behind, such as a purse or a mobile phone, it instantly sounds an alarm, allowing the passenger to retrieve his or her belongings before the taxi drives off.

And while there may be some passengers with privacy concerns related to the new system, the company claims that faces inadvertently photographed will not be identifiable and notices will be posted to the cars equipped with the system. The taxi company plans to install the system in all of its 3,100 vehicles at a cost of about $500 each.

At present, Kokusai Motorcars is the only taxi company offering the system, but the company is reportedly considering offering the system to other, competing taxi companies in Japan.

Image: KM Group