For almost a decade, Timekettle has been synonymous with {hardware} innovation in translation gadgets, producing instruments that assist folks join throughout language boundaries. Now, with the launch of Babel OS, the corporate is making a press release that the way forward for cross-language communication lies within the seamless fusion of superior software program and {hardware}.
Babel OS has the potential to be a whole game-changer in communication. From real-time, emotionally resonant translations to customizable lexicons tailor-made for particular situations, Babel OS redefines what’s doable in translation know-how. However what does this imply for Timekettle, its customers, and the broader business?
We wished to know extra, so we sat down for a chat with Timekettle’s founder and CEO, Leal Tian, at CES 2025 in Las Vegas. We have been curious concerning the imaginative and prescient behind Babel OS, the challenges of mixing cutting-edge software program with modern {hardware}, and the way these advances are reshaping the way in which we join throughout languages.Â
Q. Timekettle is thought for its groundbreaking {hardware}, however Babel OS actually reveals how vital your software program improvements are, too. What’s it been like balancing developments in each {hardware} and software program, and the way does Babel OS deliver all of it collectively?
To us, a very powerful factor is to deliver folks a brand new expertise, so we’re not focusing solely on {hardware}, software program, or AI alone. What we’re actually involved about is how folks can actually talk, even when they’re talking completely different languages.
Up to now, we’ve at all times been recognized for our earbuds and {hardware}, however at the least 50% of the work is finished by the software program. For instance, if you happen to’re utilizing our earbuds, the embedded software program, the algorithm for noise cancelation, and the communication protocol all belong to the software program facet.
This yr, we determined to push the software program to the forefront and let folks know the way we’re working to make sure they’ve a smoother expertise. That’s why we launched Babel OS. For us, it’s not about balancing {hardware} and software program — they’re a part of the identical system, working collectively to offer a singular and immersive expertise.
Q. In a previous interview, you talked about the Babel Fish from The Hitchhiker’s Information to the Galaxy as an inspiration for Timekettle. How did that concept affect the event of Babel OS, and the way shut do you imagine you’re to bringing that science fiction imaginative and prescient nearer to actuality?
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Sure, I’m a sci-fi fan, and The Hitchhiker’s Information to the Galaxy is a traditional that everyone is aware of. If you happen to go to our workplace, you’ll even discover a assembly room named Adams, after the creator. It’s an attention-grabbing idea that seems on this story, in addition to in Star Trek and plenty of different sci-fi movies, the place translators are in every single place, permitting folks to speak to one another and even with aliens. The inspiration comes from this type of creativeness — folks speaking to one another with out language boundaries. It’s a stupendous thought.
Our mission is to make the world have fewer language boundaries. And the ultimate objective is rather like the Babel Fish within the film — you set it in your ear, and also you don’t should do something. You may discuss to anybody, identical to you’re speaking to an in depth good friend. And with Babel OS, we present our respect for the novel.
Q. Babel OS introduces options like AI Semantic Segmentation and customized lexicons. How do these developments rework the expertise of real-time translation in comparison with present options?
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In our opinion, prior to now, instruments like Google Translate and related software program or {hardware} have been centered on translation, not communication. For instance, consider the digicam on the again of your telephone. Once you use it, the objective isn’t simply to take an image — it’s to seize emotion and knowledge. That’s a deeper degree of the human intuition. It’s the identical with communication. Individuals need to join, in order that they want translation, however translation is only a software and doesn’t convey the intuition.
As people, we’re social animals. Trying again, it turns into clear that all the pieces ought to concentrate on how we are able to present immersive communication, not simply translation. Software program or {hardware} used prior to now was extra like consecutive translations, the place folks took turns or handed issues backwards and forwards to speak. It wasn’t pure. Our objective, on a technological degree, is to realize simultaneous interpretation.
Whereas translation accuracy is vital, so is pace.
With Babel OS, we’ve efficiently built-in applied sciences like speech recognition and speech processing. For instance, on the entrance finish, we course of the voice to make sure the pickup is obvious sufficient to translate. And whereas translation accuracy is vital, so is pace. If I spoke to you and also you solely obtained what I stated each 10 seconds, it will really feel awkward. It’s not pure communication.
Babel OS helps our merchandise ship this groundbreaking expertise, making it really feel like you may have an actual interpreter beside you. We’re constantly bettering features like accuracy, pace, and naturalness, together with options like AI voice cloning. All of that is aimed toward attaining the last word objective: creating an answer just like the Babel Fish, enabling really pure communication throughout languages.
Q. One of the vital fascinating features of Babel OS is its capacity to duplicate human emotion and tonality. What challenges did you face in creating this characteristic, and the way do you see it impacting cross-language communication?
Voice cloning and capturing feelings is a really huge mission for us. It’s not one thing our firm can develop completely by itself, so we use a mixture of our personal know-how and third-party applied sciences.
For instance, if you wish to analyze what somebody is saying, together with their feelings — whether or not they’re offended, joyful, or one thing else — you should first detect these feelings. Then, you progress on to speech synthesis, or what we name TTS, which is text-to-speech. At this stage, you possibly can add options to information the AI in replicating the feelings detected within the earlier step.
The consequence isn’t solely copying the genuine voice but additionally capturing the feelings. It’s an entire process, and it’s not one thing completed by us alone.
Q. Babel OS is working on gadgets just like the W4 Professional Earbuds and the X1 Interpreter Hub. How do you assume this mix of sensible software program and modern {hardware} will make a distinction in folks’s day-to-day lives?
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We hope this product can be used in every single place sooner or later. Once you go to a hospital, stay overseas, journey, or attend a enterprise assembly, it ought to be there. The ultimate objective is for it to be so immersive that you just’re not even conscious of its existence. As I discussed, communication is a human intuition. Many of the worth we create and the connections we make come from talking. That’s why we see this as a elementary gadget for the longer term.
Q. Babel OS appears like a serious leap ahead in AI translation. How do you see this innovation shaping each Timekettle’s future and that of the broader business of cross-language communication?
It’s an enormous step as a result of it integrates all of the know-how we’ve developed, making communication a lot smoother. As I discussed, we’re transferring towards the imaginative and prescient of the Babel Fish sooner or later. Proper now, that is model 1.0, however possibly subsequent yr, you’ll see model 2.0 with many extra options. It’s a course of, and it takes time.
Babel OS is obtainable now and powers Timekettle’s newest gadget lineup, together with the brand new W4 Professional Earbuds, the WT2 Edge Earbuds, the X1 Interpreter Hub, and the T1 and T1 Mini Handheld Interpreters. These gadgets, enhanced with Babel OS, provide real-time, human-like translations throughout 40 languages and 90 accents, optimizing the communication expertise.
Timekettle is presently showcasing Babel OS at CES, the place attendees can expertise its groundbreaking options and be taught extra concerning the subsequent steps in cross-language communication. Babel OS marks a big step ahead for Timekettle, however as CEO Leal Tian notes, that is only the start. With ongoing updates and future iterations within the works, the way forward for communication is nearer than ever.
