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Tokyo's airport is using this incredible megaphone to translate into three languages on the fly

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In Men in Black, Will Smith handled his intergalactic role with help from a handy universal translator, which allowed him to communicate with any of the galaxy’s many beings. Now Panasonic has turned this science fiction into reality, with its “Megaphoneyaku.” Yaku means translation, and the device allows human speech to be translated and broadcast in multiple languages.

A touchscreen atop the device allows the user to select which languages to use, and the test iteration of the device connects to the cloud to translate Japanese into English, Korean and Chinese. The megaphone will also actually translate anything said in one of those languages into the other three. This not only eliminates the need to have people who speak multiple languages, but it also streamlines communication, as more people can be deployed to share information throughout the terminals.

The megaphone is being tested at Tokyo’s Narita Airport, where flooding in 2014 created a communications crisis. The authorities were unable to communicate with travelers speaking such a broad array of languages, leading to confusion and difficulty managing the situation.

The next logical step for this device would be to develop two-way communication capabilities, so foreign travelers could speak to the megaphone and have it answer their questions. This functionality could also be delivered by one of the robots appearing throughout the travel industry, as live translation is a capability already offered by many apps and services.

Panasonic hopes to have a more robust version of the megaphone available for the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. The company has already released a small device that can be worn around someone’s neck and translate into 10 languages.

The video below shows the megaphone in action.


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