Is the translator's future threatened by a pair of glasses ?
Calm down, you're not unemployed yet! The title may sound alarmist, but progress can't be stopped! The article I read 2 days ago actually talks about a find that, in theory, remains an extraordinary breakthrough! In theory...
Okay, I'll stop beating about the bush: Vuzix Corporation, an American multinational and a leading supplier of Smart Glasses and Augmented Reality (AR) technology products along with Zoi Meet, a global provider of communication platforms, have announced the creation of a pair of glasses that provide a real-time transcription service of 12 languages. Impressive, isn't it ? How does it work ? What future for the translator ? So many questions that I will try to answer throughout this article.
What's all about ?
This pair of glasses is called Vuzix Blade and has been on the market since this month. As mentioned above, this service supports up to 12 languages, including English, Spanish, Portuguese, German, French, Italian, Dutch, Arabic, Chinese (simplified), Japanese and Korean. They have already been tested at two conferences in the United States and Japan. The eyeglass integrated system uses algorithms to translate voice into text and language. To give you an example, you attend a conference in Chinese and you don't understand a word ? With these so-called "smart" glasses, the translation of what is said will scroll across the eyeglass.
According to Paul Travers, Vuzix's President and CEO, these glasses "really levels the communication playing field for everyone" while for Nick Yap, the founder of Zoi Meet, the Vuzix Blade is "a game changer for face-to-face conversations".
So are these glasses good for communication ? Are we sure about that ?
What about the translator ?
Although it is the interpreter who is mainly affected by this innovation, I'm also referring to the translator because this system uses translation processes. It is true that at first glance, the Vuzix Blade evokes considerable progress in the field of Machine Translation (MT) but the words of the representatives of Vuzix and Zoi Meet are clearly entrepreneurs statements. I am addressing you, dear students of Multilingual Specialised Translation, future interpreters or translators, would you accept to see your profession gradually disappear in favour of a pair of glasses that will be sold for around 700 euros and that will make any user a bad Elton John lookalike ?
More seriously, plenty of friends are telling me: "I don't need a translator anyway, I have everything on the Internet !" and it is true that Machine Translation solutions abound on the market and that the translator's human work tends to be neglected. However, I'm convinced that the machine will not be able to equal man in the translation field. This is for two reasons:
- The human brain has a sensitivity that no software or machine has yet developed (mainly in terms of translation)
- The communications so dear to entrepreneurs cannot do without human interpreters, otherwise social interactions will be damaged.
Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you, these glasses are controllable from an application that informs you of Wi-Fi connection, the percentage of battery remaining and for sunny days, the Vuzix Blade has snap-on sunglasses. Very useful for an indoor conference if the speaker's too dazzling !
And what about you, future translators or interpreters ? As a regular customer, would you buy these glasses ? Is the translator's job in danger ? Let me know in the comments!
If you want more information (it's quite cheap): https://www.vuzix.com/Products/Blade-Smart-Glasses
Written by Luca Z.
What an (quite literally) eye-opening article. It's crazy how far technology can go.
RépondreSupprimerI agree with you that human translators will most likely never be replaced by machines. However, they do come in handy and I believe machine translation and translation gadgets such as those glasses will soon be more and more commonly used as humans have a tendency to easily get addicted to new technologies (smartphones, smartwatches...). And I fear that this addiction, this love for development might bring us to an era where technologies take over our lives, pushing social interactions into the background.
Paulina R.
Thank you for your comment, I'm glad you liked it !
SupprimerI also believe that these gadgets will be part of the translator's work but they're not a threat to the translator, even if they can be an invaluable help sometimes. I share your point of view, the rise of new technologies and an increasingly modern world could undermine our social interactions. However, I would like to go further: haven't we already entered this era?
I agree with you that MT will probably not replace the human translator anytime soon. Although we can observe a massive development of such technologies, I believe the final touch of, at least, human proofreading will be necessary. I see the biggest problem in cultural references and choosing the right word in a specific context. MT may help the translator, it can give him or her some good choices of words or expressions he or she would never think of, but I still see it only as a supplement to human translation.
RépondreSupprimerBesides, just imagine the mess while translating, for example, a debate in the House of Commons. There would not be even enough space on the glasses to translate all interventions, or the glasses would just explode because too many people would be talking...
Anezka T.
Exactly, and I stress this point in the article; it can only be used as a translation tool.
SupprimerMoreover, I see that we have thought the same thing, in an even more formal context than a company meeting, I do not see these glasses being appropriate! It would lead to an obvious lack of professionalism in addition to a practical side that is questionable.
Luca Z.
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