Japanese have developed masks capable of translating into 8 languages

Steph Deschamps / August 5, 2020



With the pandemic affecting the whole planet, they have become inevitable everywhere. We are obviously talking about masks. If these little "tools" in the fight against the coronavirus are rejected by some who see them as an attack on their freedom, for others, they have become an opportunity to innovate. And especially for the Japanese who made masks… Translators!

Called the C-Face Smart mask, or C-Mask for close friends, it is a mask at the cutting edge of technology. Created and developed by the robotic company Donut Robotics, these smart masks allow their user to translate up to eight languages and their use is extremely simple.

Just talk

The mask is in fact connected by bluetooth to an application on your smartphone. You just need to speak through your smart mask so that your phrasing is received by your mobile application which will then translate directly, from Japanese to French, Chinese, Spanish, Indonesian, Thai, Korean or Vietnamese.

Besides the translation, your mask can also just be used to relay your words to your interlocutor in a clearer way. A necessity for its creator who details a problem that everyone experiences when wearing the mask: "It is sometimes difficult for consumers to make themselves understood in a store when they wear a mask because there are protections to avoid projections of saliva, ”says Taisuke Ono, CEO of Donut Robotics. "Wearing this mask will improve communications by translating the words of its user on the smartphone or simply by transmitting the message of its user. »

And the protection against the coronavirus, the reason why we have to wear a mask (we would almost forget it with this invention), is still assured since the smart mask actually attaches to your normal protective mask.

40 dollars the mask

The idea is simple but could appeal to many potential users in a market where mask sales have exploded since the start of the pandemic. The idea of the smart mask has in any case much more in Japan where Donut Robotics to raise 28 million Yen in 37 minutes on a platform of crowdfunding in June, then the double, a month later.

The company has already announced that 5,000 masks will be available in Japan as early as September and could arrive in China and the other side of the planet, where the interest is real according to its CEO, for a price of around 40 dollars.

Printed or eggplant-based masks

You get it, the mask is now on its own. Besides technology, fashion has already taken an interest in this new member of our wardrobes.

In Indonesia, for example, a team of graphic designers launched reusable masks on which you can print the lower part of your face. One way to be able to somehow regain a normal appearance while wearing his mask.

In Jordan, a chef bet on the concept of biodegradability by developing masks made from eggplant skins. By salting them, dehydrating them and then cooking them in water, chef Omar Sartawi has succeeded in transforming the skin of eggplants into a leather-like material which is therefore biodegradable.

The cook works with designers who use these eggplant skins for fashion by sewing them and adding some decorative jewelry.

The mask market has not stopped surprising us …