Metaglossia: The Translation World

In this modern age our mobile phones tend to travel everywhere with us. A few years ago many devices would not work abroad but the modern smartphone is more than up to the task. This also means that there are a range of applications available for devices like the Samsung Galaxy S3 that can help us when we are on our travels. These range from currency converters to translation tools. We take a look at one of the very best translation apps, the excellent Word Lens.

Word Lens for the Samsung Galaxy S3 is one of the stand out translation applications currently available. Many pieces of software that perform this task act rather like a simple dictionary where users type in the word that they want translated. Word Lens is a little different in how it goes about its business. The software requires users to point the primary camera on the phone at the word or phrase that they need translated and the application then does the rest of the work. Word Lens can prove an invaluable tool in a number of different scenarios ranging from reading restaurant menus to understanding road signs. French, Spanish and Italian are the three languages that the application covers although the initial cost of the download only gives users access to one of these. If you do require a second or third language then you will need to pay again for the application. It remains to be seen whether new languages will be added but we feel that this is inevitable if the popularity of the software continues to grow.

There is one area where Word Lens for the Samsung Galaxy S3 differs from other rival software that performs a similar function. The application uses augmented reality to present users with the search results. Augmented reality basically means overlaying computer generated graphics onto real images. In the case of Word Lens this real images are the words you are scanning with the phone. After a couple of seconds the foreign words transform into their English meaning. This looks very good although some phrases that we tested did appear slightly wobbly on the screen of the phone. When we tested the app on single words it worked almost without fault although the result were no quite as impressive when tested on phrases. Word Lens is primarily designed to decipher single words so phrases can sometimes across slightly jumbled but usually it gives you a good idea about the meaning of the phrase.

(vidéo) Le projet d'un hacker propose la traduction en temps réel intégrée aux lunettes, avec une liaison Bluetooth et une application de traduction.

Google has brought in optical character recognition (OCR), a feature that helps translate images of words, to its update Google Translate for Android applicaiton.

The Android version of Google’s language translation service has translated several languages worldwide for some time now. The new Google Translate app for its mobile operating system, however, includes the ability to translate text from images.

The search giant said that the updated Google Translate taps on the power of OCR from its Google Goggles service to break down images and translate them to text.

“This makes Google Translate for Android one of our most intelligent and machine learning-intensive apps. Speech recognition, handwriting recognition, OCR, and machine translation all rely on powerful statistical models built on billions of samples of data,” said Etienne Deguine, associate product manager for Google Translate.

O aplicativo do Google Tradutor para Android foi atualizado recentemente para uma nova versão que consegue ler textos presentes em imagens e traduzi-los para o idioma que preferir.

Para usufruir desta nova funcionalidade quando tirar uma fotografia com o seu smartphone, basta selecionar a zona na imagem onde estão as palavras e pedir a tradução. Após a seleção, o app envia a informação para os servidores e devolve o texto na língua pretendida. Mas primeiro o usuário tem que indicar a língua do texto que pretende traduzir já que o aplicativo não detecta automaticamente o idioma em que está escrito.

Tenemos ya de manera gratuita una nueva actualización del traductor de Google para Android con una interesante novedad que nos permitirá salir de más de un...

The newest version of the Google Translate app can now translate text from photos, according to Android Central. The image feature works with all languages available in Translate, and allows users to highlight the text they want to convert to another language.

In the app, users take a photo of their foreign blurb of choice, and then swipe their fingers to highlight the text in the photo that needs to be translated. Google sends the image off to its servers and gives the user back the translated phrase. It can't auto-detect what language it's trying to read, however—that's your job.

The new functionality is similar to an iOS app released in December 2010 called Word Lens, which can translate text picked up by the iPhone's camera. Word Lens could display the translated text right in the viewfinder itself, but is still restricted to only three language packs for translating to and from English (Spanish, Italian, and French), each of which cost $4.99.

The new Google Translate is available now in the Google Play store for Android phones running 2.3 Gingerbread or later.

Google Translate just got what is essentially Word Lens. The new feature in the latest update of the Google Translate app lets you take a picture and ...

Google Translate just got Word Lens, basically. The new feature in the latest update of the Google Translate app lets you take a picture in-app, and highlight text you want translated from one language into another. It's pretty cool.

The translation is different from Word Lens in that it's not live AR translation. You take a picture and then rub your finger over the words you need translated, and the app does its best to accomodate. Word Lens was never accurate enough to, say, use it to read a book or foreign movie credits, but the live-action translation means you don't have to reset to get it right. This new Google Translate function makes you go all the way back to the beginning if you miss a crucial part of the translation. Here's Word Lens translating the same image shown on Google Translate above:

....

Traduce el texto impreso de carteles en tiempo real y no requiere conexión a Internet...

Que el uso de la tecnología nos ayuda a que nuestro quehacer diario sea más fácil es un hecho que más que palpable hoy en día. Un gran número de aplicaciones móviles están concebidas y desarrolladas con una premisa de utilidad y funcionalidad real. A nuestra disposición, y listas para usar en cualquier momento y en cualquier lugar, cuando la ocasión lo exige.

World Lens entra de lleno en esa categoría de valiosas aplicaciones para nuestro día a día. Se trata de un traductor que incorporar la realidad aumentada. Gracias a esta tecnología, el app es capaz de traducir texto al instante, sustituyéndolo directamente en la imagen.

La aplicación de Quest Visual ofrece la posibilidad de traducir del inglés al español, francés o italiano, y viceversa. Además, para facilitar su uso, Word Lens no requiere de conexión a Internet, ahorrándose los costos de red.

Word Lens, the sometimes jittery but generally impressive visual language translator, is getting in the Olympic spirit. For a limited time, the language pa...

Portail des applications et de services aux citoyens sur téléphone mobile, coordonné par la Délégation aux usages de l'Internet (Ministère de la Recherche / Ministère de l'Industrie) .

Worl Lens acaba de aterrizar en Android para servir como traductor instantáneo a los usuarios que quieran entender los carteles y textos ingleses en su idioma.

Word Lens utiliza a câmera do seu smartphone para traduzir textos imediatamente.

We had seen Word Lens previously on iOS, which is an augmented reality translation application from a company named Quest Visual. The app basically makes use of phone’s camera to identify text on sign or a menu card and translates the detected text into another language. It is one of the coolest and most innovative app ever in the Apple App Store, and it is finally out on Android Play Store.

The Android version of Word Lens was actually released previous month. All the features which made it awesome on iOS are retained in the Android version, including the entirely offline translation, which even Google Translate isn’t capable of, though Google Translate supports a whole lot of languages.

Android users traveling to foreign countries can now use Word Lens to help instantly translate words with just a hover of your smartphone's camera.

Word Lens para Android ya se puede descargar desde Google Play.

Word Lens es un traductor que funciona de una forma muy peculiar. Lo normal es que cuando instalamos un traductor en el móvil tengamos que escribir la palabra o frase que queramos traducir a nuestro idioma. El concepto de Word Lens es diferente y se enfoca más en hacer traducciones en tiempo real de aquellos carteles o rótulos que encontramos en la calle, o simplemente de objetos cotidianos.

Es decir, que si por ejemplo nos encontramos en Londres y vemos un letrero del cual no tenemos ni idea, bastará con tomar el celular, abrir Word Lens, enfocar con la cámara al cartel y como por arte de magia veremos el mismo cartel pero traducido del inglés al español.

A new Android app uses the camera viewfinder to instantly translate text English, French, Italian, and Spanish words.

Word Lens blew my mind last year when I saw the app provide live translation of written text. When an iPhone camera hovered over some words written in Spanish, Word Lens instantly translated the text to English. Sure, Google Goggles has something similar, but that requires taking a picture and then accessing the net to translate. Word Lens was special because it was immediate and didn’t require a web connection.

Android users can now see that feature up close because Word Lens for Android is available in Google Play. Compatible with Android 2.3.3 or higher, Word Lens makes it possible to see street signs, menus, and other items in one language, then have it appear in a more familiar tongue. As long as the text is printed – it can’t handle handwriting, cursive, or stylized fonts – translation should be possible.

Translating is very easy. Word Lens launches the device’s camera and shows a live view of the text converted into your preferred language. The user can tap to focus on a specific area, trigger the flash to increase light, and then tap the pause button to freeze the image and read the text. Users can then tap a button to revert back to the original language or press Play to translate something else. And in the event that you only need to look up one word specific word, there’s a fast dictionary included.

Word Lens is a translation app that works like Google Goggles, but does the translation without an Internet connection, and in real time.