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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."

3 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. Why Translate Street Signs? by cporter · · Score: 4, Insightful
    I don't see this as a positive development. It's an excuse for crappier signs in a world where signs, schedules, maps, and notices are confusing even if you're fluent in the language. We should focus on standards and intuitive design.

    OK, maybe translating train schedules and restaurant menus is good. But street signs, especially, are supposed to be unambiguous, their meaning readily apparent to anyone, whether literate in their native language or not.

    And does this thing work on signs that some redneck has shot holes in with a 12-gauge?

  3. Trouble in Tokyo Station?!?! by anonymous+loser · · Score: 4, Informative
    "The translation service is a great application of augmented reality," said Dr. Seth Teller, an associate professor of computer science and electrical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "I had a terrible time finding my way through the Tokyo train station last month."

    Just about every meaningful sign in Tokyo station is already translated into English. In fact, there are few train stations within a 50-mile radius of Tokyo that don't have English language signs, at least for the essential stuff (this way to Harajuku, etc.). It's only when you start getting out in the country that reading signs becomes a problem for English-speaking foreigners. E.g. most stations on the Meitetsu line outside of Nagoya completely lack English-language signs. As a tip for foreign travellers in that situation I offer the following advice: follow the crowd. You are pretty much guaranteed by natural law to end up in the city center.