You’ve been hearing this for years, but by now, I think it’s definitely safe to say that the iPhone has truly changed the way we do things. From geo-tagging photos taken with your DSLR to increasing environmental awareness, the iPhone seems to do it all. And now, you can go ahead and throw away that Spanish to English dictionary. This new iPhone app takes translation to a whole new level.
Yes, yes, there are a billion translation apps available for your iPhone. But there’s only one that uses the iPhone’s camera. That’s right. The newly released Word Lens app actually performs a visual translation in real-time using augmented reality through your iPhone’s camera. Whaaaat?!
Just aim your iPhone’s camera to any Spanish text, so long as it’s not sloppy handwriting, and it will instantly translate it into English and display the new text on your screen. And it even translates back from English to Spanish. However, these are the only languages available at this time.
The only kicker is the price. While the app itself is free, it will cost you a hefty $4.99 for each direction of a translation you want. For example, Spanish to English is five bucks, and it will cost you another fiver to get English to Spanish.
I went ahead and purchased the app earlier today, and while it seems to be a little inaccurate at times, it works pretty well for the most part.
Now, all they need to do is add Korean-English translation so I know what I’m ordering next time I go to my local Korean BBQ joint.