Perhaps we can expect an iPhone-like symphonic progression in models here? Many companies are throwing their hat into the translation technology ring. Web translation software is being surpassed by portable, state-of-the-art technology in the form of earpieces, hand-held devices and apps, all of which are enabling users to quickly navigate our multilingual world on-the-go. Most recently, American Airlines announced it is testing interpreter mode for Google Assistant to help communication between their employees and travellers who speak a different language. In recent years, artificial intelligence (AI) has drastically enhanced the accuracy and quality of foreign language translations – allowing machines to help break down language barriers for customer service teams and tourists alike.

Waverly Labs' Ambassador, an over-the-ear translation device, can support up to 20 languages and 42 dialects. The greatest obstacle to international understanding is the barrier of language," wrote British scholar and author Christopher Dawson in November 1957, believing that relying on live, human translators to accurately capture and reflect a speaker's meaning, inflection, and emotion was too great of a challenge to overcome. More than 60 years later, Dawson's theory may finally be proven outdated, thanks to the development of powerful, portable real-time translation devices. The convergence of natural language processing technology, machine learning algorithms, and powerful portable chipsets has led to the development of new devices and applications that allow real-time, two-way translation of speech and text. Language translation devices are capable of listening to an audio source in one language, translating what is being said into another language, and then translating a ...

Forget phrase books or even Google Translate. New translation devices are getting closer to replicating the fantasy of the Babel fish, which in the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" sits in one's ear and instantly translates any foreign language into the user's own. The WT2 Plus Ear to Ear AI Translator Earbuds from Timekettle are already available, while the over-the-ear "Ambassador" from Wavery Labs is scheduled for release this year. Both brands are wireless, and come with two earpieces that must be synced to a single smartphone connected to Wi-Fi or cellular data. These devices "bring us a bit closer to being able to travel to places in the world where people speak different languages and communicate smoothly with those who are living there," said Graham Neubig, an assistant professor at the Language Technologies Institute of Carnegie Mellon University and an expert in machine learning and natural language processing.

LAS VEGAS - Once confined to the realms of science fiction, translation devices that whisper discreetly into your ear during a conversation are finally coming of age thanks to leaps in AI and cloud computing. An array of companies at the Consumer Electronics Show are promoting increasingly sophisticated devices that allow people speaking different languages to converse with the help of handheld devices or wireless earpieces. Waverly Lab's Pilot headphones translate 15 languages and are priced from $180 and $250. If each person in a conversation is wearing a Pilot, they can speak directly to one another using their own language. During a brief demonstration in Las Vegas, words from an AFP journalist speaking French were interpreted for the ears of English-speaking Andrew Ochoa, boss of Waverly Labs.

Imagine talking to a tiger, chatting to a cheetah, as Dr Doolittle once sang – what a neat achievement that would be. Well, Amazon has revealed that the animal-loving doctor's ambition might not be entirely fantasy. Pet translators that can turn woofs into words and make sense of miaows, might really be on the horizon, according to a report backed by the internet retailer. Futurologist William Higham of Next Big Thing, who co-authored the report for Amazon, says he believes devices that can talk dog could be less than 10 years away. "Innovative products that succeed are based around a genuine and major consumer needs. The amount of money now spent on pets – they are becoming fur babies to so many people – means there is huge consumer demand for this. Somebody is going to put this together," he says.

When travelling abroad, it can be difficult to communicate with those who don't speak the same language as you. But thankfully, the days of having to quickly flick through your translation dictionary could soon be a thing of the past. A technology firm has launched a new earpiece called One2One which translates spoken conversations within seconds. The incredible earpiece, which is powered by IBM Watson's artificial intelligence system, will hit global markets next month. The device supports translations across eight languages – English, Japanese, French, Italian, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, German and Chinese.

It's the holy grail of translation, a goal one researcher has called "more complex than building an atomic bomb." Smooth, immediate translations between people speaking different languages would be a remarkable achievement of enormous economic and cultural benefit. Some suggest that it won't happen until computers can express true artificial intelligence - something like C-3PO of "Star Wars" fame, whose knowledge extends far beyond mere vocabulary to an understanding of customs and cultures. Still, researchers are chipping away at the problem. Universal translation is one of 10 emerging technologies that will affect our lives and work "in revolutionary ways" within a decade, Technology Review says.