Universal Translator
OK, so, in all sci-fi movies, there is this concept of a “Universal Translator” where no matter which alien species our heroes encounter, the universal translator kicks in after exchanging a few sentences and translates their language into English and ours into alienese.
Of course, back on Earth, we’re still stuck not understanding one another’s language. This is where a consumer version of the Universal Translator comes in handy, though we’ll need to wrest the technology from the hands of the military and make it a common consumer staple item.
Here’s a design concept that floated around last week and looks really good. Dubbed, the UT (short for Universal Translator) and designed by Rachel Ilan Simpson, the UT is a cool transparent iPhone-like looking device that has an interesting property: point the UT at the scene in front of you and it identifies objects and translates their names and/or writings in your preferred language. Or, just use it as a regular text or speech translator.
Allow us to add a few features to it while it’s still in the conceptual design phase:
– Convert prices into your preferred currency.
– Provide intelligent translation versus literal translation: so that “barbe à papa” is not translated to “dad’s beard” but correctly to “cotton candy,” etc. to avoid possible intergalactic misunderstandings.
– Sentence suggestions as to how to use a translated word in everyday settings: as in, “Combien est-ce la papaye?” [hopefully not translated to “How do papaya?” as per Google translate].
– Gesture translation: not only translation of sign language(s) but also of rude gestures from around the world [or galaxy].
– Lastly, lip reading, which would prove very useful when talking to each other in a crowded restaurant.
OK, now for the photography part. Not being an artist or designer, I am not going to even attempt to draw the camera phone, but it looks pretty close like the UT / iPhone. The special design element is a screen that is opaque when using the phone as a phone and transparent when using it as a camera. In other words, the transparent screen is your optical viewfinder with electronic exposure info superimposed onto it.
This is not as far-fetched as some of you are probably thinking. See this news about intimacy / transparent dresses made of smart electrically-sensitive foils that become opaque or transparent according to alterations in current flowing through them.
Now imagine your cellphone that looks like a normal, albeit cool looking, one. Press the button to take a picture and it becomes transparent so you can view the scene in front of you. [Zoom and the screen reverts to a LCD display so you can view an enlarged image.] Touch where you want the camera to focus and take the picture.
C’est pas fini! Now, we already have Google Street View on mobile phones, but imagine superimposing a semi-transparent Street View onto that transparent screen, zoomed to the correct perspective! You can now tell at a glance if the view matches perfectly or if the Street View needs updating. We all hate stale maps and Street Views, so if the view needs updating, you take a picture and submit it to Google for consideration. With real-time updates pushed down to your mobile phone, you may even watch as the Street View changes right before your eyes to match the scene with updated restaurants, offices, street signs, etc. It’s “User-Generated Street Views” taken to a completely new level of freshness.
So what do you think of the transparent camera phone? Far-fetched?
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