Mahalo for supporting Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Enjoy this free story!

Noriyuki Matsuda spoke in his native tongue into a small hand-held device that verbally translated his Japanese into English. Read more

Noriyuki Matsuda spoke in his native tongue into a small hand-held device that verbally translated his Japanese into English.

The CEO and founder of Sourcenext, the company that makes a translation device called Pocketalk, was in Hawaii last week introducing to local business leaders the latest technology that is helping to bridge language barriers. The device translates 74 languages and connects to the internet via global Wi-Fi, mobile data or personal hotspot.

His goal is to expand the use of the gadget throughout Hawaii’s tourism industry. The Halekulani recently started selling the translator in the hotel boutique, and ABC Stores is testing it with its employees at a half-dozen stores, marking Pocketalk’s entry into the local market. More than 300,000 units have been sold mostly in Japan since sales began in December 2017.

“Hawaii is a very great place in the middle between the U.S. and Japan. There’s so many tourists and so many people who come to Hawaii. … I thought that’s the biggest opportunity for them to use Pocketalk because usually travelers don’t speak English, especially from Japan,” said Matsuda, who started online U.S. sales in October and is also selling the gadget in California and New York. He is hoping to sell at least 10,000 units in Hawaii over the next year.

“A translator like Pocketalk is a really simple solution and much cheaper than other ways, such as hiring human translators or educating people (to speak different languages). There are many other competitors, but Pocketalk is very easy to use,” said Matsuda, who flew to Hawaii from his California home in Silicon Valley. The Wi-Fi version sells for $249, and the premium with two years of mobile data service is priced at $299 on Amazon and Pocketalk.net.

Pocketalk has more than a 97 percent market share in Japan, he said, and is continually updating its hardware and software with improvements. One such change based on customer feedback was using a more natural, less robotic voice, Matsuda said.

Dave Erdman, president and CEO of PacRim Marketing Group Inc., said the technology can help the tourism industry provide better serv­ice to international travelers.

“For inbound travel to Japan or Hawaii or anywhere in the world, travelers from across the globe arrive who speak languages which our service industry is not capable to handle,” he said.

While there are numerous other voice translator apps on the market, including one by tech giant Google, the primary benefit of Pocketalk is the accuracy of translation, specifically in loud places — a weak spot for translator apps on cellphones with lower-volume speakers, according to Matsuda.

“In Japan when you go to the doctor (as a foreigner), it’s very difficult to describe to them in Japanese (what’s wrong),” Matsuda said. “Now many hospitals are using Pocketalk to talk to patients who usually come as emergencies and they’re not prepared.”

Matsuda hopes the translator will help people build relationships and make it easier for international business deals. But could the device eventually replace human translators?

“I don’t think so. The more people communicate, that creates more relationships. If they start to do business together, in this case they need to have human translators,” he said. “The value of a human translator will be bigger. There’s all kinds of business-related opportunities. We found that if they speak more mother languages of the customers … they can sell more product. For individuals I think it’s just more fun.”