When it comes to international travel, basic fluency of language can greatly improve navigating and interacting with locals. So long as one doesn’t butcher pronunciation too much, of course. For the rest of us, mobile translation software is widely available and accepted. However, one latest piece of tech makes translation faster and easier. The Timekettle WT2 Edge aims to be the world’s first bi-directional, simultaneous translation earbuds.

Modern translation software has been around for years. With Google Translate, for example, any non-native speaker can talk or type into their smartphone to receive a translation. Press a button, and the phone’s speakers provide speech with reasonable pronunciation. Simple. Although you can have translated conversations like this, they aren’t really fluid or natural. But, this may all change very soon.

Enter Timekettle’s WT2 Edge. These earbuds are designed to translate over Bluetooth, in real time as two (or more) people are speaking and listening. Insert an earbud into your ear, and hand the other one to the person you intend to communicate with, so that he/she can do the same. Using Timekettle’s mobile app for iOS and Android, you can set the language preferences for each earbud. Then, as you and your counterpart talk at the same time, the earbuds automatically translate both ways in less than three seconds.

The WT2 Edge earbuds utilize dual beamforming microphones, directional voice recognition, and smart noise reduction. These technologies help the earbuds focus on the intended voices, reduce background noise, and send data to the opposite earpiece in the shortest amount of time. The result? You can experience face-to-face communication, unhindered by pauses or waiting for someone to finish.

Translation engines are a little bit different from each other. Instead of choosing one, the WT2 Edge leverages six: Microsoft, Google Translate, Hoya, DeepL, iFlytech, and Timekettle’s own. Using all of these, the WT2 Edge is capable of accuracy up to 95% in some languages. These earbuds connect to 15 worldwide servers in order to provide the fastest translation possible for 40 languages and 93 dialects (via online access). Plan to go offline? The WT2 Edge translates seven (and counting) languages.

Of course, not every local stranger may be interested in an earbud that is being offered to them. In such situations, you can set the WT2 Edge to ‘speaker mode.’ As you talk, the earbud translates and delivers the message through your smartphone’s speaker. The mobile app can also display translations in both languages on the screen, with a text-to-speech option at the press of a button.

The WT2 Edge earbuds are good for up to three hours of continuous translation per charge. It takes only 90 minutes for these earbuds to fully charge, and the included charging case offers up to an additional 12 hours of power.

The Timekettle WT2 Edge simultaneous two-way translation earbuds are currently funding on Indiegogo. This is the company’s fourth crowdfunding project for wearable translators, so we can expect them to have familiarity with the process. Over 600 backers have helped raise over US$95 thousand dollars. There are three weeks of funding left to go. Early bird pledges for the WT2 Edge start at $99, with offline language packs provided as an additional accessory. If everything goes according to schedule, backers can expect shipments to start April 2021.

Source: Indiegogo