When Viva and Yoshiko, one English speaker and the other a Mandarin Chinese speaker, tried out Google’s prototype smart glasses during a sneak peek at Google I/O 2022, my spine broke. His facial expressions, his sudden ability to communicate meaningfully with someone who previously didn’t fully understand what was being said, struck me greatly. This is an example of the type of technology I really love: one that can change lives.
‘Subtitles for the world’
You’d be forgiven if you missed this particular moment during Google I/O, as it came right at the end of the marathon event, and lasted just a few minutes. The actual smart glasses were not named, only shown in a demonstration video, and were really only revealed as a concept. Google also didn’t show us the interface or indicate that the smart glasses will ever be released as an actual product.
It was not necessary. Google sold the dream, Worn like a normal pair of glasses, the lens includes a small screen that shows a real-time translation of another language in augmented reality (AR), so it overlays what you normally see. Is. Google Product Manager Max Speer summed up the functionality perfectly, saying it was like a “subtitle to the world”. Sitting in front of someone who doesn’t speak the same language as you, Glasses will provide a text-based translation of the conversation as it happens.
You might be thinking that it’s similar to other translation technology—Google’s Pixel Buds, for example, feature translation—but there are some distinct benefits here. For a start, seeing text on a screen inside a pair of glasses means you can maintain eye contact without pressing a button or walking with a long, awkward silence as a machine translates. That’s what is being said. The text is less intrusive than listening to another voice, and because no one hears the translation, it doesn’t sound unnatural.
potential use
Anyone who has traveled abroad, or spent time in communities where languages ​​differ, will immediately understand how to benefit from such technology. I trembled not only because of the joy on the faces of those who tested the glasses, but because I immediately thought about how many times my own life would have changed if I had access to the same technology.
I remember having dinner with a friend in Japan, and although we both had a basic right to each other’s language, the conversation didn’t work out. We ended up using Google Translate on the phone and typing through the app instead of using voice as the atmosphere was quite noisy. It worked and was great fun, but it wasn’t perfect, and was very awkward at times. Smart glasses may have changed that situation completely.
I lived in Greece for many years, and while I understand a considerable amount of Greek, I cannot speak it properly. I wonder how Google’s smart glasses and translation system might have changed my time there? But, as I think about both of these situations and many others I’ve personally come across where smart glasses would have been really helpful, I quickly reach the big hurdle that not only is Google’s prototype glasses, Rather any wearable is translation technology.
The problem with any wearable device that provides visual translation for two people speaking different languages ​​is that all parties are required to own and wear one of them. Conversations are two-way things, and if only one of you understands what is being said, it only becomes useful in situations where feedback is not needed. So, in order for it to work for my scenarios, everyone I know in Japan and Greece has to wear smart glasses with Google’s translate technology. He seems … not likely,
Where they will work without wearing all the parties, is not for translation, but for transcription. Such visual transcription and enhancement can be life-changing for people who are apparently deaf or hard of hearing. My father wears hearing aids, but I know he would benefit from “seeing” the words, and wouldn’t remember the annoying audio feedback that comes with hearing aids in certain situations. It reminds me how transformative products like eSight smart glasses are for the blind and partially sighted.
Maybe not Google Glass 2
As much as I think we’re seeing an early version of Google Glass 2, I don’t think we are. Instead, we’ve seen an amazing demonstration of Google’s rapid progress in the speed and accuracy of its translation and transcription technology.
There were many other examples of Google improving language skills during Google I/O 2022. It was announced that 24 more languages ​​have been added to Google Translate to serve 300 million new people worldwide. This takes a total of 133 supported languages ​​and is made possible by a new AI system called zero-shot machine translation, which learns new languages ​​through a combination of existing knowledge and new information, even when the source of that information is limited.
Google’s AI getting better at understanding natural language and the way it’s commonly used, such as with the Look and Talk feature on the Nest Hub Max, was also announced during I/O 2022. Before anyone with a Google Pixel 6 gives a try to Google. The Assistant’s ability to turn your voice into message replies or watch videos with live translation. Both are fast, and shockingly accurate, especially in terms of replying to messages.
I use Google Translate in various devices every day, usually translating Japanese, Korean and Chinese to English. These are very challenging to do, and using them effectively in conversation really requires a knowledge of how language works, or else embarrassing mistakes will be made. To listen and see now how Google is innovating and improving its translation technology means that my world is opening up even more, and I think it’s also a matter of slowly learning those languages. will make it easier.
Integrating Google’s advanced language and translation technology through a pair of smart glasses is exceedingly powerful. If I can immediately understand the benefits it will bring to me and those close to me, then I can only begin to understand the excitement that cannot be heard. You can put the Pixel 7 and Pixel Watch — showcasing such incredible futuristic technology — that’s why I sit for over two hours after Google I/O keynote presentations, and that’s when I start to understand that How potentially transformative all this can be are my bounties.
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