TOKYO, Nov 23 — Panasonic has just released a prototype megaphone in Japan that will instantly translate what is said into it (in Japanese) into English, Chinese, and Korean. Panasonic’s “Megahonyaku,” which is a combination of “megaphone” and and “honyaku” (which means translation in Japanese), will be tested by employees at Tokyo’s Narita International Airport.
As you can see from the clip below, if an airport employee says, “A bus is on its way” into the megaphone, the message is automatically translated into English, Chinese and Korean, and then broadcast loudly.
According the Japanese newspaper The Mainichi, the translation level is reportedly the same as that of a smartphone application.
The initiative came about due to the communication difficulties that airport employees experienced while handing out sleeping bags and water to foreign travellers stranded overnight during last year’s heavy snowfall, the newspaper added.
