Japanese Telco NTT Docomo Unveils Intelligent Wearable Device that Could Topple Google Glass (Youtube/ Engadget)

Japanese Telco NTT Docomo has just unveiled in its home turf an intelligent wearable device that could topple Internet search giant Google's avant-garde Google Glass device.

Every inch a clone of Google Glass, NTT Docomo's augmented reality (AR) Intelligent Glass can translate a menu in real time, enabling travelers to Japan be able to readily access local food. The device is slated to be readily available to the public in time for the 2020 Olympics where nuclear-crisis riddled Japan expects the number of tourist arrivals to surge.

It has near-instant translation of text, which for the tourists coming in on the 2020 Olympics would be very useful since it would immediately translate signs into different languages right before one's very eyes.

Nasdag reported the glasses have been installed to recognize the Japanese, Korean, English, and Chinese texts. It takes about five seconds to complete a translation.

"Character recognition technology enables instant language translation for users travelling abroad and reading restaurant menus and other documents," Docomo said in a statement. It debuted the device at the Combined Exhibition of Advanced Technologies (CEATEC) fair, an annual futuristic event in Tokyo.

The augmented reality (AR) Intelligent Glass is patterned after Google Glass, an optical head-mounted display computer device. It displays information in a hands-free format, communicable with the Internet via voice commands

A man controls Google Glass using the touchpad built into the side of the device (Wikimedia)

Apart from menu reading and translation, the augmented reality (AR) Intelligent Glass can make flat surfaces appear into a touchscreen. It is also equipped with technology that allows users to look up somone's identity through facial recognition.

Videou Source: Youtube/ Engadget

However, Jonathan Gaw, IDC consumer technology consultant, believed NTT Docomo might have a hard time selling the device's concept.

"Small-bore applications like on-the-fly menu translation won't sell a pair of smart glasses on their own, but a large eco system of applications might," he told BBC.