Tourists Are Fueling a Boom in Personal Translation Devices
- Gadgets designed to communicate between multiple languages
- Pocketalk is being challenged ahead of 2020 Tokyo Olympics
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Takehiko Fujita wouldn’t be able to do his job selling eye drops and pain relievers without his pocket translator.
Instead of an app, language dictionary, or call-in translation service, the clerk in a Japanese drugstore uses Pocketalk, a 25,000 yen ($230) device made by Sourcenext Corp. that looks like an oval puck. The gadget translates phrases to and from 74 languages, helping Fujita communicate with customers from Sweden, Vietnam and other countries.