universal translator
Instant language bridge
A universal translator is a hypothetical or fictional device that instantly converts speech between any languages, allowing people who share no common tongue to communicate freely.
The concept appears throughout science fiction—Star Trek's crew members converse effortlessly with alien species thanks to universal translators built into their communicators.
The term now extends to real translation technology aspiring toward that ideal: Google's working on a universal translator for your phone.
- interpreterOne who conveys meaning between languages
- languageSystem of symbolic communication
- polyglotOne knowing many languages
- real-timeOccurring without processing delay
- speech recognitionMachines understanding human talk
earpiece · alien · sci-fi · communication · multilingual · Star Trek · voice · speech · decode · foreign · tongue · device · gadget · barrier · breaking barriers · understanding · fluent · instantaneous
- sci-fi techteleporter, time travel, cryonics, force fields, time machine
- Futurismjetpacks, holograms, robots, androids, cyborgs
- sci-fi communicationcommunicator, comlink, viewscreen, subspace, distress signal
- sci-fiscience fiction, Star Wars, sci-fi, Blade Runner 2049, aliens
universal translatorbroken speech
Fragmented, uneven speaking
phrasebook · hand signals · pantomime · gesturing · pointing
universal translatorlanguage barrier
Mutual incomprehension across tongues
Tower of Babel · linguistic isolation · untranslatability · communication breakdown · babel
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