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Point, Shoot and Translate into English

Posted by timothy on from the from-the-hip dept.

edstromp points out this New York Times "story on using a pocket pc to translate a street sign. It requires at least a dialup connection as it sends the photo to a server for the majority of the processing: OCR, translation, English overlay for new image, and then transmission back to the user. All said and done, it takes about 15 seconds to translate a street sign. Put this with some augumented reality, and you have a rather useful tool."

8 of 159 comments (clear)

  1. Augmented Reality Porn by mikosullivan · · Score: 5, Funny
    You walk down the street and the cute girls are modified so that they appear interested in you.

    ... oh wait, we already have beer for that.

    -Miko

    --
    Miko O'Sullivan
  2. Combine this technology... by TrebleJunkie · · Score: 3, Funny

    Combine this technology with last summer's craze, hotornot.com, and I think you got something. (15 seconds to know if the chick you wanna pick up in a bar is really hot? Priceless.)

    --

    Ed R.Zahurak

    You know, oblivion keeps looking better every day.

  3. How long... by theMAGE · · Score: 2, Funny

    How long till' people will drive using this as input? "Computer: what is that red sign over there?" ... crunch scan crunch ocr crunch exception: macromedia plugin required crunch downloading... ... 15 seconds later, from the car's wreckage: IT'S A STOP SIGN. REPEAT IT'S A STOP SIGN

  4. Suspicious by EvilBastard · · Score: 2, Funny

    I was messing with the Prototype for this, and after I tried about the 40th sign, I got this back

    Warning !
    Wrong Way
    **** HELPI'MBEINGHELDPRISONERINAWIRELESSTRANSLATINGFACI LITY ****
    Go Back

  5. yeah, but... by KingPrad · · Score: 2, Funny

    ...can you get through the airport with it? Carry any more technology and those security guards will tear you apart.

    --
    Stop the Slashdot Effect! Don't read the articles!
  6. Chicken and egg situation by suso · · Score: 3, Funny

    What do you do if you're trying to read signs that would lead you to a cybercafe?

  7. I can see it now... by Eric+Damron · · Score: 2, Funny

    I'm on a business trip in Paris. My wife flys in to be with me. Fourteen hours later I show up at the airport.

    Wife: "Where the hell have you been!!!"

    Me: "server was slow..."

    --
    The race isn't always to the swift... but that's the way to bet!
  8. Neat idea, but the latency... by Sivar · · Score: 3, Funny

    "Dear, what does that sign over there say?"

    [15 seconds later]

    "It says: 'Road ends: Bridge constru...'"

    --
    Computer Science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes. --E. W. Dijkstra