When the devices like female Waverly Labs Ambassador Interpreter And Pocketalk Plus voice translator success, the world has made some of the biggest strides to date toward universal translation technology, all thanks to devices that can listen to two people talking and translate the audio in real time, both two ways.
These products appeared just four years ago, and the world of real-time language translation has made incredible strides since then. Today, we can look back on devices like these as strange and useful but limited. In the case of the Pocketalk, the handset only lasts two years – after that, you have to buy a new SIM card for $50 each year. Baby steps.
You can thank advances in artificial intelligence for driving this development: Real-time language translation is the main proving ground for this technology, and I've been able to see how we've how far it goes by testing the latest real-time translation hardware, the Vasco E1 Translator.
Language buds
The design of the Vasco E1 is similar to that of the Waverly Interpreter, taking the form of two earbuds designed to be shared between you and another person—someone speaking a different language. Each earbud has a magnetic case, both of which fit together (also magnetically) 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 Vasco earbuds are designed to fit the right ear. Battery life is listed as 3 hours for each earbud, with a standby time of 10 days. 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 earphone, your friend puts on the other, and you start speaking in whatever language suits you, while the E1 translates your friend's voice into the other language. your common language. Up to 10 E1 translators can be paired, enabling multilingual group chats. A total of 51 languages (by my count) are available in the app, although that includes some regional variations of English, like the UK, US, India, and Australia. Each earbud has a physical volume control, and unlike some translation systems, no subscription is required.
Vasco has done important work to make the translation process as easy as possible, mainly related to the Vasco Connect mobile app. To get started, you pair each earbud with the app on your phone—a simple process—assigning a name, a color to the small LED light (useful for keeping the earbuds upright), and the default language played out through the speakers. All of this can be changed as needed.
In Headphone mode, you tap the edge of the headset—sort of interstellar journeyPicard is doing a “tap to talk” action on his badge— which presses a button on the E1 that sits next to your ear. This will switch your headset into chat mode, at which point you can freely speak peace. When a pause is detected, the translation will be sent in a few seconds to the other headphone(s) you've paired, in the language the headphone specified in the app. The other party can then touch the side of their head to do the same thing, in reverse. So it's typing, speaking, listening; touch, talk, listen. And so it continues.