It has been a staple of science fiction for decades, and could be a godsend for tourists grappling with directions to their hotel.
同声传译耳机是几十年来科幻小说的主题，可能会成为在去宾馆途中迷路游客们的福音。
An earpiece that lets its wearer understand other nationalities by instantly translating foreign languages is due to go on sale next month.一款可以即时翻译外国语言，让佩戴者听懂外国人说话的耳机将于下月开始发售。The ￡140 device, which can decode eight languages, is inspired by translators such as the Babel fish from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, which allowed the earthling Arthur Dent to comprehend alien races on his adventures.这款耳机售价140英镑（约合1212元人民币），可以翻译八种语言，受到《银河系搭便车指南》中巴别鱼等“翻译员”的启发制成。巴别鱼让地球人阿瑟-邓特能在探险中听懂异族生物的语言。Lingmo International, the Australian firm behind the Translate One2One earpiece, said it would put an end to awkward international meetings between politicians and business leaders.“翻译一对一”耳机是澳大利亚公司Lingmo International开发出来的。该公司表示这款耳机将结束政界人士和商业领袖出席国际会议时的尴尬。The device translates sentences in three to five seconds using IBM’s artificial intelligence language software, Watson.这款耳机使用IBM公司的人工智能语言软件Watson，能在三至五秒的时间里翻译出语句。It is the first earpiece of its kind to translate languages without needing a constant connection to a mobile phone or Wi-Fi signal, and can translate between English, French, Italian, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, German and Chinese.这是首款无需一直连接到手机或无线网络信号就能翻译语言的耳机。可翻译的语言包括英语、法语、意大利语、西班牙语、巴西葡萄牙语、德语和汉语。Lingmo has put the device on sale and claims it will be delivered as early as mid-July, in time for the start of the summer holidays.
Lingmo公司已开始发售这款耳机，并表示最早将于7月中旬交付使用，恰好能赶上暑期假日的开始。There is one catch, however: the speaker and listener will have to wear a device each for the translation software to work.但有一点：翻译者和倾听者都需要佩戴耳机，翻译软件才能工作。Several technology companies are developing language earpieces aimed at making embarrassing holiday encounters a thing of the past, while Google recently upgraded its translation software so that it is able to understand full sentences, instead of converting phrases word by word.数家科技公司都在研发语言翻译耳机，以让尴尬的假日邂逅成为历史。谷歌公司近日对其翻译软件进行了升级，使其可以理解全句，而不是逐字转换短语。