Traveling in a foreign country can be exciting, exhilarating and overwhelming. This is especially true if you are not a speaker of the native tongue. Simple tasks like ordering a meal or finding your way around the city can seem near impossible. That is while on your travels, your smartphone can easily become your best travel partner. There are many different ways that you can use your smart phone to help you to translate the language, but not many applications are as easy as Word Lens.

How It Works

Word Lens is a great translation tool that allows you to use your smartphone’s camera to translate printed words in real time. The application requires the purchase of language pack in order to work. Right now the language packs are available in French, English, Portuguese, German, Russian, and Spanish. This application works on iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad and many Android devices. The application currently works the best for iPhone 5. The device is quick and easy to use making it a travel must.

Developer

Word Lens was created by Quest Visual. Quest Visual has now joined forces with Google. This means that the application is currently undergoing restructuring and fine-tuning to make it better when traveling.

Price

Since announcing the transition to joining Google, Word Lens application has become free for a limited amount of time. The application is undergoing restructuring so the price may change as well.

Pros/Cons

There are many great positives about the Word Lens application including its overall ease of use. Many people, when traveling to a country where they do not know the language, want a user-friendly application that is quick and accurate. That is where Word Lens has the average traveler covered. It also does not require a network so language translation can occur wherever you need it in real time. It is so easy to use just by taking a snap shot of what you are looking to translate and presto, your camera will return the text translated to your language. Word Lens also gives the user the option to manually type in text and have it translated too. It recognizes printed word like signage, menus and directions which can greatly improve your confidence while traveling.

A few cons about Word Lens is that it does not recognize or translate stylized font. This means if the text is in cursive, stylized font or handwriting, the device will not be able to translate it. It is also important to note that the Word Lens translator application is not completely perfect. Language is subject to meaning, with certain ‘sayings’, so the translation may not be entirely correct in its translation. It is still beneficial because you will be able to get the general meaning which can still help when communicating and understanding with the culture.

Word Lens is set to undergo some major changes because of the new collaboration with Google. This will add more languages to the translation tool, will make it easier to use and more accurate, making it an even better traveling tool.