Another Star Trek Idea Becoming Reality
First there were the phaser prototypes, then the food replicator theories, followed by the first steps in teleportation.
Now we have...
The Phraselator, essentially what could become the universal translator from Star Trek:
http://www.phraselator.com/products/prod_p2.aspx
http://img.slate.msn.com/media/1/123...hraselator.jpg
Quote:
Using progressive speech-recognition technology that phonetically analyzes spoken phrases, the Phraselator seamlessly matches English phrases to their prerecorded foreign language equivalents. Translated phrases are then heard through the Phraselator's built-in high-fidelity speaker. In addition to speaking a phrase into the Phraselator, users can also select phrases from the on-screen display by tapping the screen with a stylus.
Phrases are stored on removeable media such as Compact Flash (CF) or Secure Digital (SD) cards that easily switch in and out of the Phraselator. Depending on the storage allotment, up to 30,000 phrases can be stored on each card.
