Mars earbuds are equipped with space-age translation tech

Over the past year or so, earbuds with translation tech have been popping up everywhere, signaling the evolution of an industry. Headphones are now capable of being more than just a means to deliver music -- if the tech is good enough, they can act as a bridge between disparate cultures, bringing people together to foster mutual understandings. The new Bluetooth-enabled Mars wireless earbuds, a collaborative project from Line Corporation and Naver Corporation (a leading internet provider in Korea and Line's parent company), aim to do just that. Boasting real-time ear-to-ear translation of 10 different languages, Mars is unique in that it is designed for each person to wear one earbud (as opposed to needing two pairs). The earbuds were named a CES 2018 Best of Innovation Honoree at CES Unveiled New York on Thursday, November 9. Scheduled for release in early 2018, Mars support Line's Clova artificial intelligence, a virtual assistant which takes cues from Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant.