Augmented reality and translation are a perfect match, and Microsoft has finally paired the two in their latest update to the Bing Translation app for Windows Phone. With the new version, you can scan menus or signs in a foreign language and Bing will overlay translated text in a flash. It’s like “automatic subtitles for everyday life,” says the official announcement post.
AR translation is supported in six languages at the moment: English, French, German, Italian, Simplified Chinese, and Spanish. As you can see in the screenshot, it’s not perfect — machine translation can’t yet process the nuances of language the same way a human interpreter can — but it’s definitely good enough to make sure that you’re boarding the correct bus or train or ordering what you think you’re ordering.