Word Lens. I’m sure you’ve heard by now, but if you haven’t, you have to see this video. The name of the software is Word Lens, a perfect companion for travelers that need translation. Word Lens is able to read the text images from the iPhone camera and translate it to another language almost instantaneously. Watch!
Word Lens is free to download, but you’ll need to buy a language pack. Each language pack cost $4.99. If you need translation the other way, it’s going to be $9.99. That’s good, I guess, for English speakers. The coolest part about this application is that, you don’t need to be online for it to work. All you need to do is point the phone’s camera in the direction that need translation.
If you’re not iPhone user, don’t fret. Quest Visual, the company behind Word Lens, plans to have the software released to other phone platforms: Android, Blackberry and Windows 7, in the near future.
Just a couple more things worth mentioning. Word Lens’ text recognition software works optimally on well-lighted signs. Don’t expect Word Lens to work in the dark. The other limitation is, Word Lens is not designed to read eBooks, but it recognizes a few words. I’m curious how big the vocabulary is for each language pack. How accurate is it?