A face mask created in Japan can hear speech and translate it into eight different languages in real-time.
The world has become a very different place in 2020. Many of us have had to stay at home for the past six months or more thanks to a global pandemic. International travel has become almost non-existent. However, parts of the world are slowly starting to open back up as world leaders attempt to figure out how to prevent the outbreak from worsening again.
International relations have never been more important than they are right now. Neither has wearing a face mask. Those might seem like two very random dots to join up, but let us explain. Japanese tech company Donut Robotics has created a face mask that will translate from Japanese into eight different languages in real-time.
It's called the C-FACE mask and it is indeed real, not something from science-fiction. The wearer speaks into the mask which needs to be connected to a device via Bluetooth. The corresponding app will listen to what has been said and can then translate it into eight different languages in the blink of an eye, reports Unilad. Donut hopes that the product will bring people closer together during a time where we have been forced to stay apart.
"We still have many situations where we have to meet in person. In this new normal … the mask and the app are very helpful," Donut's Chief Executive explained to Reuters. The mask has also been shown in a theoretical situation via a diagram where an English speaking man is buying a train ticket from a Japanese-speaking woman. The two are wearing masks and their translated speech appears on a screen alongside them.
Not only is this product pretty incredible, but it's also very affordable. They will be sold for ¥4378, which is a little more than $40. On the one hand, that might seem a little much for a face mask, but consider what this particular mask is capable of. What's more, it will fit comfortably over a regular face mask. 5000 masks have been shipped to buyers in Japan, with Donut hoping to sell to people in China, the US, and Europe in the future.