Last week, I wrote a book review of John Naisbitt’s new book, Mind Set! It is Naisbitt’s contention that the “future is embedded in the present.” That is, if you look closely enough at the events occuring on the periphery of society, you can often catch a glimpse of the future. I agree and that’s why I want to share this article from Engadget.com which discusses NEC new’s voice translation technology. The device can reportedly translate over 50,000 Japanese words into English text. (IBM and others are also developing some amazing voice translation technology.)
The important thing to remember is that this technology is only going to get better. In fact, it is going to get exponentially better! This makes voice translation technology a perfect candidate for “jumping the curve.” In other words, to benefit from the technology it is more important to understand not where the technology is today, but rather where it will be tomorrow.
If you jump the curve of voice translation technology’s progress, I think you will agree that it will have huge implications for language training. How many students will want to spend years studying Spanish, Chinese, Japanese or any other language if, within the next three to five years, their cellphone can act as a live interpreter? The implications for the travel and hospitality industries will also be huge. Just imagine how many more people might be willing to travel if they know they will no longer be hampered or constrained by language barriers?
Of course, the implications go well beyond these opportunities. As voice translation technology gets better, people will also be able to converse directly with the computers in their cars, cellphones, homes and robots; and those devices will be able to understand what we are asking and respond back to us. Other amazing opportunities also await us—but it requires we intrepret the future of voice translation technology.
Jack Uldrich is a writer, futurist, public speaker and host of jumpthecurve.net. He is the author of seven books, including Jump the Curve and The Next Big Thing is Really Small: How Nanotechnology Will Change the Future of Your Business. He is also a frequent speaker on future technology and future trends, nanotechnology, innovation, change management and executive leadership to a variety of businesses, industries and non-profit organizations and trade associations.
