Photo: YouTube/Donut Robotics
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'Smart mask' translates speech into 8 languages

7 Comments
By SoraNews24

They say necessity is the mother of invention, and what people need these days is face masks. And although Japan has long embraced the practice of putting cloth over their mouths, the current pandemic has really kicked up demand for fashionable and practical alternatives.

Now, Tokyo start-up Donut Robotics are set to release what they are calling a “smart mask” this December, which will bring a whole new range of functionality to the humble mask. However, this product isn’t actually a filter itself, rather it’s a plastic and silicon cover for a standard face mask. When fitted, it provides a Bluetooth linkup with your smartphone which you can interact with verbally using a built-in mic.

As shown in the demo video below, C-Face – which seems to have been wisely localized to “C-Mask” in English – allows the user to present their speech in an on-screen chat window, or audibly over devices’ speakers in a number of languages.

That alone might not sound like much, since you could probably achieve the same effect with a pair of wireless earbuds and Google Translate. But the intriguing aspect about C-Face is the “high-precision translation technology” it boasts.

Donut Robotics was originally working on a translation robot for Haneda Airport but has since had to pivot to this project due to the COVID-19 situation, so there is a chance C-Face could have some decent translation power under the hood. If so, it would be certainly worth the expected 4,000 to 5,000 yen price tag.

People seem to be excited about C-Face, as a crowdfunding attempt last month yielded 28 million yen in only 37 minutes and reached a total of 56.6 million yen. Donut says they’ve been getting inquiries from 35 other countries as well, including the U.S. and the U.K.

The buzz online in Japan has been pretty enthusiastic too and surprisingly less cynical than usual.

“That’s really innovative!”

“I want to buy that right away. Of course, it’s made in Japan.”

“A great example of adapting to fit the corona era.”

“But it’s just for translation, so I wonder if people will mistakenly buy it as a regular mask.”

“I want this. Please give it the same accuracy as DeepL.”

“I never even thought of adding functions like that to a mask.”

Source: Donut RoboticsCNN JapanHachima Kiko

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© SoraNews24

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.

7 Comments
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Is there an option to do the - I am your father. - Dark Vader thing?

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

I wonder how good the translation will be on this... it’s really impossible to find a good translation app especially for sentences rather than just words.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Everything goes smart these days but Not the people.

Britain has Smart motorways, Nepal has smart city but what's the use if there are more dumb people around.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

The Donut C-Mask is probably gonna put me out of a job. Especially if you can talk to dogs.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

When learning English or any other language is no longer needed....

0 ( +0 / -0 )

thats a great invention

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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