Word Lens captures the language

Travellers wanting to avoid getting lost abroad or ordering snails by mistake because they don’t speak French will welcome a new translating app.

Word Lens users a smartphone’s in-built camera to recognise text viewed through the lens and translates it into English.

The app will allow tourists to make sense of simple road signs or restaurant menus in real time in French, Spanish and Italian.

Word Lens comes from San Francisco-based company Quest Visual, which was founded in 2009 to leverage the increasingly powerful computer vision capabilities of mobile devices.

“Word Lens translates printed words from one language to another with your smartphone’s video camera, in real time. No network connection needed,” Quest Visual says on its website.

Travellers are becoming increasingly discerning about the resources they use to enhance their experiences, so perhaps you can draw inspiration from Word Lens and launch something similar.