Imagine you are in a foreign country and see a sign in a language you cannot read or understand. Now you have the solution at hand with a new smartphone app that translates anything into your language.
Originally, Quest Digital introduced the app as Word Lens, an augmented reality (AR) project that was free to try. However, it required purchasing $5 language packs. Later, Google acquired Word Lens, and now the technology is part of the Google Translate app for iPhone, Android, and Google Glass, which is completely free.
How it works
Open the app on your smartphone and select the languages you want to translate into, and then simply point the camera at any typed text to see the translation. Although immediate translation is a bit of an overstatement, the app processes the change so quickly that it can very well hold true. In addition to signs, it even changes documents right before your eyes, making it easy to understand the world around you, even when you are unable to speak the language.
Start the app on your smartphone and activate the camera icon. Choose the languages you want the translation to be done in. A screen will appear when you press the camera and it will show you what your camera sees. Point it at a text and watch the change right in front of you. Then, press the red camera button to take a photo, if you want to save a specific image. That was it.
Also, you don't need an Internet connection to set the app into operation.
However, the app isn't perfect. While Google has solved the original app's biggest problem—its cost—it still suffers from the same problem that all translation apps have: they're rarely 100% accurate.
The app will help you get a general understanding of what you are reading, but it may have quite a few errors. So, we shouldn't expect too much. Also, you shouldn't use it on lengthy articles. It works best on signs and short text sentences you might encounter when you're out. Additionally, it's a very complex task for a smartphone to perform live translation by replacing words.
Στο σύνολό τους, αυτά τα μειονεκτήματα επισκιάζονται σημαντικά από την απίστευτη χρησιμότητα του app. Το Google Translate είναι μια δωρεάν εφαρμογή διαθέσιμη για iPhone, Android και το Google Glass.
