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Author Topic: Word Lens goes viral  (Read 5097 times)

zridling

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Word Lens goes viral
« on: December 17, 2010, 02:51 AM »
Taking us one step closer to Star Trek's "universal translator":
http://www.youtube.c.../watch?v=h2OfQdYrHRs

word_lens201017.jpg

But will it eventually translate a page from a German book into English?
________________________________________
[via engadget]:
Augmented reality and optical character recognition have just come into their own, beautifully intertwined into an instant translation app for the iPhone. Download Word Lens, pay $4.99 for a language pack, then point it at a sign and watch as it replaces every word with one in your native tongue. It's a little bit like Pleco, but without the whole language learning stuff. We just gave it a spin, and while it's not quite as accurate as this video claims, it's still breathtaking to behold -- especially as it doesn't require an internet connection to do any lookup. Sadly, it only translates to and from English and Spanish for now. Still, Babelfish, eat your heart out.

techidave

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Re: Word Lens goes viral
« Reply #1 on: December 17, 2010, 05:23 AM »
awesome!

JavaJones

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Re: Word Lens goes viral
« Reply #2 on: December 17, 2010, 06:05 AM »
Thank god "the future" finally arrived! :D

- Oshyan

Deozaan

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Re: Word Lens goes viral
« Reply #3 on: December 17, 2010, 12:00 PM »
That's cool!

jaden

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Re: Word Lens goes viral
« Reply #4 on: December 17, 2010, 01:21 PM »
This really is amazing.  I was incredulous while watching the video.

zridling

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Re: Word Lens goes viral
« Reply #5 on: December 19, 2010, 09:54 PM »
This could be really helpful in future iterations, assuming advances in smartphones. For example, if your phone had infrared or image intensifying tech then you could read things like signs or numbers in the dark or poor light. In its present version, you need both good light and a still hand.

Surely James Bond has one of these lying around somewhere, right? British DC'ers, help us out on this one; make a call to MI5 or Major Boothroyd if you know the number!

JavaJones

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Re: Word Lens goes viral
« Reply #6 on: December 21, 2010, 06:46 PM »
Actually, it looks like the military sees cell phone technology as sufficiently advanced - presumably more so than anything they already have - that they're thinking of giving every soldier a smart phone:
http://communication...es-every-soldier.htm

So perhaps our ideas of the universally advanced nature of military tech are a bit overblown. These days the consumer sector is often where seriously mind blowing futuristic stuff is happening. Hooray for us! :D

- Oshyan

Tuxman

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Re: Word Lens goes viral
« Reply #7 on: December 22, 2010, 09:34 AM »
Waiting for an Android port ...  ;D