Upcoming Google Translate to bring image translation and automatic language detection in conversations

tech2 News StaffDec 10, 2014 16:19:18 IST

Need help reading a sign-board or a restaurant menu in a foreign country? The upcoming version of Google Translate aims to see you through your language woes.

According to a recent leak by by Android Police, Google is working on an updated version of Google Translate, which will not only help you translate spoken words, but will also let you use your camera to translate text in images. The website highlights that the feature comes after Google acquired translation app Word Lens by Quest Visual. The app provides users an instant translation of any portion of text in an image. Looks like Quest Visual’s special augmented-reality based technology has been put to use in Google’s Translate products, presumably across platforms.

Image: Android Police

Word Lens is free to download for a limited time. You might not be able to download it once Google officially releases the update for Google Translate.

Android Police has published the screenshots which show how Live Translate would work after the update. It adds that the initial rollout will work both ways between English and French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish, though the version of the app they got could only translate to and from English in the live mode.

In addition there's a conversation mode, which helps you converse with people in a language you don't understand. Once you've set the two languages (the one you'll be speaking in and the one you'll be listening to), the app will actively translate both languages into the one that the other can understand.

Image Android Police

There's no news about when the update will get released and there's also no APK currently available for download. When it does become available, the app could become extremely useful in bridging the language barrier and saving yourself from embarrassment when travelling abroad.