Pilot from Waverly Labs Is a Universal Translator

Originally scheduled for a 2151 delivery date, it would appear Star Trek’s Universal Translator is arriving a few years early.

The Pilot system from Waverly Labs relies on Bluetooth and a smartphone app to allow users to receive live in-ear translations of foreign languages. In order to provide seamless conversation, the system’s “smart earpieces” translate in real time, using speech-recognition technology.

The kicker? The Pilot doesn’t require an Internet connection to function. That oughta come in handy when you’re wandering around Wi-Fi-lessly in a faraway land.

Waverly Labs is accepting discounted Pilot preorders through May 25 before it launches an Indiegogo campaign that will sell the system for its regular price of $229. The first Pilots will be equipped with Romance and Germanic languages, but many other world languages will follow.

The company says it wants to provide “travel[l]ers, international professionals and digital nomads” with “a life untethered, free from language barriers.”

Bon voyage.

You can probably handle that one.

Meet your guide

Evan Bleier

Evan is a senior editor with InsideHook who earned a master’s degree in journalism from NYU and has called Brooklyn home since 2006. A fan of Boston sports, Nashville hot chicken and Kentucky bourbon, Evan has had his work published in publications including “Maxim,” Bleacher Report and “The Daily Mail.”