itstargetnews
If the devices are desired THE Waverly Labs Ambassador Interpreter and Pocketalk Plus Voice Translator hit the scene, the world has taken some of its biggest steps yet towards universal translation technology, all thanks to gadgets that can listen to two people talking and translate audio in real time, in two ways.
Those products emerged just four years ago, and the world of real-time language translation has made incredible strides since. Now, we can look back on devices like this that are unique and useful but limited. In Pocketalk’s case, the handheld gizmo is only good for two years—after that, you have to buy a new SIM card for $50 a year. Baby steps.
You can thank the advances in artificial intelligence for the push forward: Real-time language translation is a leading test of technology, and I have witnessed how far we have come by trying the most new in real-time translation hardware, the Vasco Translator E1.
Languages of Languages
The design of the Vasco E1 is similar to that of the Waverly Interpreter, which takes the form of two looping-over-the-ear earbuds designed to be shared between you and another person—one who speaks a different language. Each earbud has a magnetic case, both of which snap (also magnetic) like a triangular sandwich. Only one of the cases has a USB-C charging port, so when both cases are connected, they both charge. All of Vasco’s earbuds are designed to fit in the right ear. Battery life is listed as 3 hours per earbud, with 10 days of standby available. The case also has its own battery—good for “multiple charges” per Vasco.
Photo: Christopher Null
The idea behind the Vasco Translator E1 is that you put on one earbud, your friend puts on the other, and you start speaking in whatever language suits you, while the E1 translates your friend’s voice into your lingua. franca. Up to 10 E1 translators can be paired, making multilingual group chats possible. A total of 51 languages (by my count) are available in the app, however including some regional variations of English, such as UK, US, Indian, and Australian. Each earbud has a physical volume control, and unlike some translation systems, no subscriptions are required.
Vasco has done significant work to make the translation process as easy as possible, mostly involving its Vasco Connect mobile app. To get started, you pair each earbud with the app on your phone—a straightforward process—give it a name, a color for its little LED (helps keep the earbuds upright), and a default language -output through its speaker. All this can be changed if necessary.
In Earbuds mode, you tap the side of your earbud—like Star TrekPicard’s Picard does a “tap to talk” on his badge—holding down the E1 button that’s in your ear. This puts your earbud in talk mode, where you are free to speak your mind. If a pause is detected, the translation will be delivered in a few seconds to the other earbud(s) you have paired, in the language assigned to the earbud in the app. The other party can then tap the side of their head to do the same thing, in reverse. So it’s tap, talk, listen; tap, talk, listen. And so on.
