Originally scheduled for a 2151 delivery date, it would appear Star Trek’s Universal Translator is arriving a few years early.
The Pilot system from Waverly Labs relies on Bluetooth and a smartphone app to allow users to receive live in-ear translations of foreign languages. In order to provide seamless conversation, the system’s “smart earpieces” translate in real time, using speech-recognition technology.
The kicker? The Pilot doesn’t require an Internet connection to function. That oughta come in handy when you’re wandering around Wi-Fi-lessly in a faraway land.
Waverly Labs is accepting discounted Pilot preorders through May 25 before it launches an Indiegogo campaign that will sell the system for its regular price of $229. The first Pilots will be equipped with Romance and Germanic languages, but many other world languages will follow.
The company says it wants to provide “travel[l]ers, international professionals and digital nomads” with “a life untethered, free from language barriers.”
Bon voyage.
You can probably handle that one.
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