Megaphone Capable of Translating Messages to 3 Languages

An ingenious megaphone capable of translating what the speaker's says is being developed by Panasonic.

Japan has been preparing as early as now for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The Japanese recognise that there will expect a large group of visitors from foreign countries and with this, the need to communicate. In other situations, apps in smartphones that aid in translating would have been enough but the Olympics (as well as other situations where a crowd is involved) requires a more widespread approach.

The Megahonyaku was developed for this reason. It receives the speaker's message and sends out a translated version. It is capable of broadcasting messages into Chinese, Korean or English. Its name is a combination of megahon which is Japanese way of pronouncing megaphone and honyaku which means 'translate.'

This device is already being used to direct large number of people in Narita International Airport, which is located in Chiba Prefecture. This is said to be the airport where the Olympic athletes will hopefully arrive next year. The testing for Megahonyaku have already begun and will continue experimenting with the product until March 2016.

Its capability to translate is almost the same level as that of a translation app in smartphones which means its success at picking up and converting airport jargons still remains to be seen.

Panasonic developed the gadget due to the demand for translating directions to groups of people during emergencies, specifically during the floods last 2014. During this time, airport staff had a hard time communicating instructions to foreign travellers who were stranded.

Most people, especially the Japanese, would have mistaken the gadget to be something Doraemon would pull out his pouch. Doraemon is an animated character, a robotic cat to be exact, from the future who helps an elementary kid get through life with the use of futuristic devices. This makes it no surprise that the translating megaphone is being associated with the anime character.