A technology company in Japan will launch a headset that provides real-time translation of foreign languages.

The hi-tech gadget looks like a pair of glasses, but is designed to beam subtitles directly into the user's retina, translating conversation as it is picked up by a microphone.

Creator NEC, a multinational IT company based in Tokyo, intends the device to be used by telesales and customer service staff.

The ‘Tele Scouter’ is expected to be launched in November 2010. Initially, the Tele Scouter will be available to large companies in packs of 30, at a cost of about $80,000 US.

The first headsets will provide only information such as client information and buyer history, but by 2011, software will provide both audio translations and subtitles.

NEC official Takayuki Omino said the translation device "can keep the conversation flowing," adding that it "could also be used for talk involving confidential information, negating the need for a human translator."

Translation technology expert Don DePalma told the BBC World Service, "I think this is a fundamental example of something everyone wants to do, which is [to] overcome the language barrier," and hailed the invention as a correction to "linguistic short-sightedness."

DePalma added that there was something of "the borg from Star Trek" about the invention.

Historically, the use of machines to translate languages without human intervention has met only with very modest success.

Software programs such as SYSTRAN and Apptek have attempted natural language translation, but linguists say that such technology has limited use, usually in fields with small vocabulary ranges and uncomplicated syntax."

06 November 2009

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