The future of translation is part human, part machine

Imagine a world where everyone can perfectly understand each other. Language is translated as we speak, and awkward moments of trying to be understood are a thing of the past. This elusive idea is something that developers have been chasing for years. Free tools like Google Translate – which is used to translate over 100 billion words a day – along with other apps and hardware that claim to translate foreign languages as they are spoken are now available, but something is still missing. Yes, you can now buy earpiece technology reminiscent of the Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy babel fish – a bit of kit which claims to so a similar job to that a university-trained, professionally-experienced, multilingual translator – but it's really not that simple.