Google’s real-time translation service for mobile phones is underway, and it’s “near perfect,” according to Android product management vice president Hugo Barra.
Barra claims that the translation product is “close to 100% accuracy” while working extremely efficiently to deliver the best results possible.
Google has worked endlessly to create “tons of prototypes” for better interaction.
Speaking to The Times, Barras says Google real-time translation is “near-perfect” with certain pairings such as conversations between Portuguese and English.
The goal is very complex as Google wants to create a “universal” translator in which a user can talk in one language while the person on the other end hears the conversation in their own native tongue.
Google’s product manager does warn customers that near 100% perfection has only been witnessed in a controlled test environment that is void of background noise and other environmental sounds.
While customers have been using the Google Translate platform for years, that setup provides only for non-real-time conversations based on typed words and sentences. The real-time translation production adds a more robust system to the Android platform.
Google has not given a time-frame for the new real-time platform. With in-house testing still underway and no public beta option for the platform it is probably still a while away.
If successful Google could revolutionize the way businesses and customers communication on a daily basis.
Do you think Google will lead the way to a better real-time translation service for mobile customers? Would real-time translation services lead you to purchase an Android-based smartphone ?