Danielle Armour
Getting lost in translation could be a thing of the past thanks to a new piece of travel technology. Pilot is an earpiece which can translate between users speaking different languages.
Developed by Waverly Labs in New York, the smart earpiece translator is set to revolutionise the way we communicate, featuring a built in app that translates between languages. The start-up company’s goal is to disable language barriers globally.
The earpiece is used in conjunction with a smartphone app which can switch between languages and then upload them to the earpiece. Pilot can be used for conversation between two people speaking different languages or in a larger group setting, even if more than two languages are being spoken. When one Pilot user speaks in their native language, the app translates it to the language of another user and transmits it to the earpiece, breaking the language barrier.
By launching this technology, Waverly Labs are keeping up with Google and Microsoft who have both launched attempts at real-time translation on Translate and Skype respectively. However, both these platform rely solely on an application to present the translation to users in a written format. Pilot’s point of difference is its wearable feature, removing the reliance on smartphones and working towards seamless multi-language conversation.
In a video created by Waverly Labs about the earpiece, creator Andrew Ochoa says, “I came up with the idea for a translator when I met a French girl.”
While this makes it seem that Pilot ticks all the boxes, some technology experts are labelling the crowdfunded product “too good to be true” due to its association with a start-up company.
We will have to wait, however, to be able to test this new technology for ourselves. Not launching officially until May 2017, Pilot will initially translate between English, Spanish French, Italian and Portuguese, with follow of languages set to be made available throughout 2017. Waverly Labs hopes the delayed launch date will allow for further development of the technology, including more instantaneous translations, less translations errors and an offline feature.
Solving all your translation woes will not come cheap. Pilot will retail for around $410 and is already available for pre order, almost a year before its launch.
