Communication breakdowns caused by language barriers can happen anywhere, from tourist giftshops to international ports of entry, business meetings or parent-teacher conferences. One solution is a consumer goods technology system that leverages wireless connectivity to bring content to users wherever they may be located. Pocketalk is expanding its offering of cloud-based language services for areas where there may not be Wi-Fi or other accessible connectivity.
Since the 2017 launch of the product’s parent company, SourceNext, the Pocketalk device (released a year later) has been providing translation and interpreting services by leveraging the global cellular-based network from Internet of Things (IoT) company Soracom. The touchscreen device is about the same size as a smartphone, with a built-in processor, a microphone and a speaker. The personal translator uses Soracom’s eSIM technology for wireless connectivity, to ensure its products can access the cloud wherever they are used around the world. The device is being sold in North America Europe and Asia, as well as Latin America.
The Pocketalk
Typically, Pocketalk explains, the two-way translation device connects users to the most relevant translation services based on their location and language needs, using Soracom’s network of providers. This ensures that whether somebody is in an urban or rural setting, anywhere on the planet, they can potentially have access to the service. The device also comes with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi functionality, so users have a variety of connectivity method options. The translator can be linked to a smartphone via Bluetooth, for instance.
Soracom offers IoT connectivity via cellular networks to connect different types of devices to the cloud, according to Kenta Yasukawa, the company’s CTO and cofounder. Pocketalk leverages that service so that the device can connect to SourceNext’s own cloud-based translation engine, says Joe Miller, SourceNext’s general manager.
The translation technology was first developed to provide international travelers with a way to communicate in foreign countries. While there are a variety of translation services available online, Miller explains, the Pocketalk is designed to identify and provide the best translation service available for a specific location or language, without requiring a user to connect to a Wi-Fi service, or to use their phone’s cellular connectivity. Since the first product was launched, SourceNext is now offering its third iteration of services using the device, and is expanding its services to written translations for Web-based meetings.
The device utilizes IoT technology from Soracom
Soracom offers connectivity for a variety of applications. “We have been expanding our business very quickly,” Yasukawa says. Last year, the company announced that three million devices were connected to the Soracom network, and that number has since increased despite the pandemic. “We have a wide variety of customers and different industries and verticals,” he adds. Early this year, the company announced four million devices were connected.With regard to Pocketalk, Miller says, “We’re really the consumer-facing expression of connectivity. When you think about being connected, it’s become so ubiquitous—it’s something you can’t see but you have to have it.” That is where Pocketalk’s strength lies, he adds, because it can connect even when phones or other devices may not be connected.
A user would first set the device to translate from one language to another. For example, Americans traveling in Brazil could select translation between English and Portuguese. The device could be used in a variety of ways. The hypothetical American travelers could speak into their device in English, for instance, and play back the translation to their Brazilian listener. They could also capture words spoken to them in Portuguese, then hear the translation played back in their device. In addition, the system can read text and provide written text in a user’s language. The global network provides local breakout (LBO) to ensure the shortest possible route for data traffic.
The system enables individuals to interact no matter what language they speak.
The unit’s software transfers speech to text, which is sent to the translation engine, which in turn translates the content into text in the second language. The engine then sends it back to the device, which transfers the words back to speech. This all typically occurs within a matter of a few seconds. While the system was initially designed for travelers, COVID-19 has brought other applications to the forefront as well. As travel was reduced during pandemic quarantines and lockdowns, the company has been marketing the Pocketalk to other users, such as first-responders.
Police departments are using the device to communicate with those who don’t speak their language. The system can thereby ensure officers can interact with people no matter what language they speak. The system can also help healthcare providers interact with those in need of assistance, as well as with their families.
Kenta Yasukawa
Some hospitals are using the Pocketalk to interact with patients so that care need not be delayed until a translator can be found. Questions such as “What are your symptoms?” and “Are you in pain?” and “What medications have you taken?” could be answered quickly with the device. According to Miller, global companies are using the technology to enable staff members to speak with coworkers or customers in real time, no matter where they are around the globe and no matter what language they speak.
In addition, the Pocketalk is being adopted by schools to enable teachers and administrators to communicate with students’ parents who don’t speak the local language. In fact, the technology is currently in use by the New York City Department of Education for translation devices. The company is also selling its solution in the logistics and supply chain industry, to help drivers and other workers interact with officials in places such as foreign ports or receiving areas.
At manufacturing sites, the device is being used to help consumer goods firms and other companies interact with employees who may not be fluent in English. Communicating safety concerns can be essential, Miller says. Something as simple as employees protecting their hair by tying it back, he notes, can potentially prevent those workers from having their hair become tangled in moving parts. “The key to making all that work is ubiquitous connectivity,” he states.
Joe Miller
SourceNext captures location data regarding each access event in which language information is requested, and that data provides the company with analytics to help it understand the dynamics of how and where the devices connect to the network. The company uses that data to refine the language-translation engines, making sure they’re updated with new words and that the voices are correct, with proper accents and inflections for a specific area. The system relies on between seven and 10 separate translation engines, and it automatically connects users with the best translation engine for their specific language and region.
Soracom’s network of providers includes some local carriers, Yasukawa says, adding, “We have capabilities to deliver a new SIM profile over the air when using a local carrier network in case the underlying network operators’ coverages is insufficient.” Soracom supports multiple network operators so Pocketalk can switch from one network to another when backup connectivity is needed.
Pocketalk users have accomplished more than half a billion translations to date, Yasukawa reports. Most recently, the service added some features that enable translation without the handheld translator. That includes an app for smartphones, along with a subtitles service for digital meetings. A Pocketalk console is expected to be made available later this spring, the company indicates.