When the device likes of Waverly Labs Ambassador Interpreter And Pocketalk Plus Voice Translator hit the scene, the world took some of its biggest steps to date toward universal translation technology, thanks to all the gadgets that can listen to two people talking and translate the audio in real time, both ways.
Those products came out just four years ago, and the world of real-time language translation has made incredible strides since then. Already, we can see devices like this as strange and useful but limited. In Pocketalk’s case, the handheld gizmo was only good for two years — after that, you had to buy a new SIM card every year for $50. baby steps
You can thank advances in artificial intelligence for the lead: real-time language translation has been a huge proving ground for technology, and I was able to see what we could do by testing the latest in real-time translation hardware. How far have we come, Vasco Translator E1.
Language buds
The design of the Vasco E1 is similar to the Waverly Interpreter, which takes the form of two looping-over-the-ear earbuds designed to be shared between you and another person – who is speaking a different language. Each earbud comes with a magnetic case, the two snap together (also magnetically) like a triangular sandwich. Only one of the cases has a USB-C charging port, so when the two cases are connected, they both charge. All Vasco earbuds are designed to fit over 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 earbud, and you start talking in the language that suits you, while the E1 translates your friend’s voice into your language. translates into Up to 10 E1 translators can be added, enabling multilingual group chats. A total of 51 languages (by my count) are available in the app, though it includes several regional variations of English, such as UK, US, Indian, and Australian. Each earbud has a physical volume control, and unlike some translation systems, no subscription is 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 tiny LED (helpful to keep the earbuds upright), and a default language for its speakers. The output is through the speaker. All of these can be changed as needed.
In earbud mode, you tap the side of your earbud—something like this Star TrekPicard is “tapping to talk” on his badge—which presses a button on the E1 that rests in front of your ear. This puts your earbuds in talk mode, at which point you’re free to say your peace. When a pause is detected, the translation is delivered within seconds to other earbuds you’ve paired, in the language assigned by 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 on and on.
