HIKONE, Shiga Prefecture--Long before the COVID-19 crisis cast its shadow over the world, a leading manufacturer in this western Japan city began work on developing a touchless elevator that allows users to reach the floor of their choice without physically pressing a button.

Work on the system started in 2016, and the elevator developed by Fujitec Co. is now winning rave reviews from users impressed with its hygienic qualities following its timely introduction while COVID-19 cases surged across Japan.

Users simply hold a finger over the button of the floor they want to reach, which then lights up to show the stop is inputted.

A demonstration was given to an Asahi Shimbun reporter in a showroom at Fujitec’s head office designed to resemble the interior of an elevator car.

“An infrared sensor is embedded to detect the presence of a hand within 5 centimeters,” said Noriyoshi Hagizawa, head of the UX Innovation Department with Fujitec’s Research and Development Headquarters.

The call buttons in the floor halls can also be operated without physical contact.

Both sets of buttons are part of a system called AirTap, aptly named, as company officials acknowledge, because the system operates as if by tapping the air.

The company was keen to quash speculation that it had counted on demand to climb under the pandemic by pointing out that development work started in 2016.

A prototype was built in 2017. Following trials, the elevator went into commercial production in April 2020, just months after the pandemic flared.

Its introduction coincided with a COVID-19 state of emergency declared across Japan.

The system immediately garnered attention as members of the public became more fastidious about making any form of physical contact to avoid becoming infected with the novel coronavirus.

Fujitec initially envisaged installing the system in buildings that require particular care about hygiene, such as food plants and research facilities.

As it turned out, the timing of the elevator going into practical use proved to be fortuitous. But it also brought challenges of its own.

Many of the sites eyed for installation, such as plants where food is prepared, are low-rise buildings. By contrast, the edifices where demand for touchless elevator systems rose under the pandemic, such as apartment and commercial complexes, are typically high-rise buildings that require a huge number of elevator buttons.

“That raised the hurdles for development,” Hagizawa, 47, said.

A particular challenge was how to block erroneous operation. The developers wanted better sensor responsiveness, but that also raised the chances of an unintended floor being tapped.

The situation was resolved by getting workers of different heights and physical build to operate the system’s panel and making repeated adjustments to button intervals and sensor responsiveness levels.

A feature was added to prevent the system from reacting when more than one button sensor is tapped simultaneously.

The prototype was a “sensor-only” model, which essentially meant adding an auxiliary operation panel, with built-in sensors, to an existing elevator system. A “hybrid” model was released in July 2020, with sensors arranged side by side with conventional push buttons.

Fujitec then developed an “all-in-one” model, with sensors embedded inside the push buttons to save button layout space, late in 2020.

The AirTap system was adopted in the majority of the elevators for which Fujitec received new orders last year. This minimized the price premium over conventional products without the new system, company officials said.

AirTap received a Good Design Award from the Japan Institute of Design Promotion, which cited its use of “technology and design to offer a simple solution to people’s psychological barrier to making physical contact with buttons that have been touched by numerous other users.”

“I am just happy, as one of the developers, that our product was recognized not just for its design and operability, but also for its contribution to society,” Hagizawa said.

He said the company will work to further improve the elevator’s design and functionality so it can be installed in a broader range of venues, such as institutions for the elderly and hotels.