The communication gap, especially during overseas travel, will no longer be a hassle, thanks to the new real-time pocket translator called Travis the Translator that can support up to 80 languages and translate within two seconds.
Travis could translate the languages in real time when it's online, ranging from Afrikaans to Welsh. It could also access 20 more commonly used languages in offline mode to cater for those without a stable network connection. It has a stripped-down UI to select the language the user is working with and can also auto-detect languages.
The developers of Travis teamed up with different companies to include the "best translation engines" for each language, according to The Verge. The Dutch company is utilizing IBM and Google's existing AI principle on translation. It used Google Translate for some language, while other languages were translated from apps like Microsoft, Systran, IBM, and two other unnamed apps. The company does not have its own AI scientist, according to Technode.
"The more we use, the better it gets. IBM and Google's existing AI needs more data to get better. We use our app as an umbrella and link with their open source software," Lennart Van der Ziel, co-founder and CEO Travis the Translator told Technode.
Travis the Translator has a touchscreen display for navigation, a quad-core processor, built-in Bluetooth and WiFi, and a SIM card slot. On standby mode, its batteries can last up to a week, but online usage will drain it in six hours and offline in 12 hours.
Travis surpassed its initial funding goal on IndieGoGo, receiving 746 percent to $596,848 from its low-ball $80,000 target. Pre-order of the device is available at $139, and $199 at launch, Mashable reported. Developers said that trial production is expected to start soon, mass production in May or June, and shipping to customers in July.
Meanwhile, the market for Travis the translator is huge as there are 7.5 billion people in the world using more than 7,000 languages, and 83 percent of people speak only one language.