The Pilot earpiece language translator is a very interesting new device that seemingly allows the wearer to completely bypass language barriers, translating the conversations it hears into the user’s native language. However, it may not be as a futuristic as you’d initially think.
Created by Waverly Labs, the Pilot ostensibly allows two people to hold a conversation in entirely different languages, with it performing a swift translation before audibly relaying it back to the user via the earpiece. While this would be an incredibly useful and nigh-on revolutionary tool in theory, when you take into account that the device requires the use of a smartphone to function, it starts to sound a little less like a bold new vision of a future in which we’re not constrained by our native languages, and more like a slightly fancier earbud.
While Waverly Labs hasn’t detailed how the Pilot will operate, the necessity for a smartphone in order for the earpiece to function suggests that it will use your mobile device to perform the translation, before it plays the translated text through the earpiece. Though this would certainly be useful in conversations between two people speaking different languages, if a little impractical given that both individuals need to use the Pilot earpiece (Waverly Labs will ship the device in pairs), it’s certainly less impressive than if the earpiece were to perform the translation too.
Also See: FormBox is a Desktop Vacuum Former That Lets You Make Your Own Product Line
Though this is pure speculation given that Waverly Labs haven’t announced how the Pilot works, the video unveiling the project seems to hint that this will be the case, depicting one user setting up the app on their smartphone before the translation begins. If this is to be the case, the Pilot could therefore prove to be a relatively useful device for the niche market of people who find themselves frequently conversing with someone who doesn’t speak their language (we can’t imagine forcing the earpiece into strangers’ ears whenever you go on vacation would go down too well), it’s might not be the Babel Fish we’ve been waiting for.
Check out the Pilot in the video below, and take a look at its IndieGogo page right here:
