A robotics company in Japan has developed a face mask capable of not only protecting someone from the spread of infectious diseases, such as coronavirus, but also translating their speech into eight different languages. Donut Robotics smart C-FACE mask is similar to standard face masks, but can translate a user's speech from Japanese to English, French, Indonesian, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Thai and Vietnamese.
The mask connects to a smartphone or tablet application via Bluetooth, which then translates the speech into text messages, dictates speech and makes calls. The mask is plastic. Prior to the pandemic, Donut Robotics had just signed a contract to supply Tokyo Haneda Airport with robotic guides and translators. But as the future of air travel became uncertain around the world, the company wanted to develop a product that could be used during and after the coronavirus pandemic.
The engineers decided to take the translation software and customize it to a mask, and after testing, it went online to search for funding. "We have been working hard for years to develop a robot and we have used this technology to create a product that responds to the way the coronavirus has transformed society," Donut Robotics CEO Taisuke Ono told Reuters.
The mask has already raised more than $ 260.000 on crowdfunding website Fundinno and is expected to be released to the public in September. The masks sell for about $ 40 each. The first 5.000 will be sold in Japan, but in the future they could be sold in China, Europe and the US.
Donut Robotics intends to use its funding to further develop the masks, possibly adding AR or VR elements, to help translate images, not just speech.
Source: Kathimerini