Smart Face Mask Can Translate To 8 Languages And Do Remote Calls

This face mask also amplifies your voice

Images adapted from: Reuters

Since wearing face masks are now part of the “new normal”, fashion brands and inventors alike are now finding ways to make masks fashionable or practical to minimize risks between people.

In Japan, a startup company called Donut Robotics recently launched their “smart mask” in response to difficulty in talking with a face mask.

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To be worn over normal face masks

Image credit: Reuters

The “c-mask” is worn over the normal mask like a mouth shield. It connects via Bluetooth like a wireless microphone, making it unnecessary to have the phone right up to your face, as well as amplify your voice. Donut Robitic’s CEO Taisuke Ono said in an interview that face masks make communicating with cashiers hard because it muffles the voice and you can’t read lip movements.

Source: Designboom

It also translates speech to text like in Google Translate, making communication between two different languages easier.

CEO Taisuke Ono demonstrating the c-mask
Source: Reuters

The app currently translates Japanese into 8 other languages including Indonesian, Vietnamese, and Thai language options.

According to Reuters, the first batch of 5,000 masks (costing $40 per) will ship within Japan in September and the CEO plans to sell it abroad in the United States, Europe, and China. But no word on whether or not the c-mask will be available in other countries, especially the ones available in the app.

Creatively safe

The “new normal” brought new challenges to daily life, little things we took for granted like being able to talk without a face mask or physical contact without fear.

Fortunately, there are those who embraced these changes with innovative ways to keep us close without direct contact. But hopefully, the “new normal” won’t be for good, and we can learn to live normally again.

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