As Japanese tourism grows, businesses struggle to bridge the language divide between international visitors and locals. Panasonic, however, may have a solution: a multilingual loudspeaker. The Megahonyaku—an amalgamation of 'megaphone' (megahon) and 'translation' (hon'yaku)—automatically translates Japanese into English, Chinese, and Korean. Simply speak into the microphone; the machine listens as well as analyses sentence structure, and then transcribes the words. Using the integrated touchscreen, pressing the respective dialect button outputs your sentence in one of the three available languages.
Aimed at corporate customers, including train stations and airports, the amplifier could prove very useful in crowded locations and tourist destinations where information is dispensed to groups who may all speak different languages. The Megahonyaku, The Japan Times reported, comes pre-installed with 300 common sentences in Japanese, including "The train has been delayed" and "Watch your step." Additional phrases will be available via Web-based updates.
Making your voice heard in a congested, noisy terminal isn't always an easy task—even with a portable PA system. However, the Megahonyaku's speech recognition system will be unaffected with background noise, the Times said, and is 'almost certain' to recognise preset sentences if not spoken verbatim.
Google Translate Now Covers 99% of Online Population Panasonic did not immediately respond to PCMag's request for comment. The megaphone is expected for launch December 20 2016, on sale for less than ¥20,000 (US$183) per month on a three-year contract. This comes with all future updates and maintenance.
Panasonic is also developing a number of other audio solutions, with an eye on the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, an event tht promises throngs of international travelers spilling into the capital city.
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