Overview

Prevesti is a translation and language learning software that intend to help international travelers who wish to learn local languages. Users input an image that includes written or typed words and the program returns the translation of those texts (including a word-by-word picture translation), audio of the translated texts, and a pronunciation guide to the translated texts. Additionally, users can record an audio of themselves pronouncing the translated texts and receive feedbacks on their pronunciation.

Why Prevesti?

The issues Prevesti attempts to address are those that are manifested in Fiona's experience after arriving in the United States. It attempts to dismantle the language barriers that exist during international travel. When one is traveling to another country, there are many signs and paperwork in airports, restaurants, attractions, and more than one might not know how to read. Additionally, reading is only 2 half the battle, as one would also need to speak the language of the country they’re in to communicate. Furthermore, simply reading the pronunciation of a word or phrase doesn’t mean one will know how to speak it accurately. Thus, the motivation for our product is to tackle this multidimensional problem, allowing travelers to read and communicate in the language of the country they are in and learn the language itself along the way. In the end, the ultimate goal of Prevesti is to make people like Abdul to travel more safely, smoothly, and enjoyable. Current technologies exist for the purpose of translation or learning, but not for the specific purpose that our product will serve. For example, while Google Translate provides back and forth conversational and document translations, it fails to grade users on how accurate their pronunciation is. Further, since its purpose is to translate and not teach, it does not break down sentences or phrases, making it unclear to a learner how a sentence was constructed. On the learning hand, the app Duolingo serves the only purpose to teach and not to translate. This means that a user would have to follow the specific lesson plans designed by the application. A traveling user would require more flexibility in their learning, however, as a traveling user would likely not have the time for structured and consistent learning. Thus, these products contain missing features that our application will serve in order to create a smooth learning experience that integrates with one’s journey abroad.