Skip to main content

This new Google Lens feature looks like it’s straight out of a sci-fi movie

Google has introduced AR Translate as part of a trio of updates for Google Lens that are aimed at taking image translation further into the future. The company held a demonstration at the Google Search On 2022 conference on Wednesday to show that AR Translate can use AI to make images featuring a foreign language look more natural after text is translated to another language.

Currently, any text that’s converted into a different language uses colored blocks to mask bits of the background image. AR Translate better preserves the image by removing the blocks and just swapping the text outright to make the translated image look as though it was the original photo.

Recommended Videos

What you love about Translating with Lens is now even better. 💡

With major advancements in AI, translated text appears seamlessly integrated, as if it was part of the original picture. Turning text… into context! #SearchOn pic.twitter.com/N8YySv87z1

— Google (@Google) September 28, 2022

Google said it optimized the machine learning models so that AR Translate could work in 100 milliseconds. The translation speed is made possible with the same technology Google uses for Magic Eraser, whether you’re trying to translate a screenshot or a poster with the live Lens Camera.

AR Translate is an impressive innovation that looks as though it’s taken straight out of a sci-fi film. People will not only be able to translate the posters they would see at a museum, zoo, or other tourist attraction when they travel to different countries, but one day they will also be able to translate street signs and storefront signs faster than the blink of an eye. Although, we’re not sure if the live Lens Camera will be able to translate signs in which the text is raised, like on building signs. Even so, it’s impressive to see Google continuing to improve one of its most impressive (and helpful) features.

AR Translate will roll out on the Google app later this year.

Cristina Alexander
Gaming/Mobile Writer
Cristina Alexander is a gaming and mobile writer at Digital Trends. She blends fair coverage of games industry topics that…
The new Google Wallet app has landed, and here’s what it looks like
The new Google Wallet app running on an Android phone.

Google Wallet was announced at Google I/O 2022 earlier this year, and now it's finally starting to roll out to the public. Although there was plenty of initial confusion about how the app would differ from G Pay, Google's other wallet-esque app, the differences have finally become clear as Android users are able to compare and contrast the two.

Because Wallet doesn't have the plethora of features included in G Pay, it's a little bare-bones at the moment. But that's kind of the point. It's a much more streamlined way to access credit cards and the like, but after logging in for the first time and putting information in, there's not much else to it. Take a look:

Read more
Google Lens is getting Chrome integration to help you find out-of-stock products
Google Lens shopping integration.

Google announced at its Search On event on Wednesday that it's bringing the smartphone functionality of its Google Lens to the desktop version of Chrome. Lens is an app that helps identify objects, and it's installed by default in many Android phones.

At some point in "the coming months," Chrome will receive an update to incorporate Lens-style searching into Chrome. Instead of the old highlight, then right-click, then "search Google for" three-step process, you can search a webpage directly with Lens.

Read more
OnePlus Nord 5 shows Samsung how to make the perfect Galaxy S25 FE
Rwar shell of the the OnePlus Nord 5.

About three weeks ago, a rather interesting phone landed at my doorstep. It was OnePlus’ latest budget pleaser, which neither falls in the “mid-tier” segment, nor sniffs too close to the flagship summit. Yet, the value it offers at an MSRP of around $400 redefines the whole concept of the class that we often refer to as “budget flagships.” 

The Samsung Galaxy Fan Edition phones are the quintessential definition of this honor, at least for the competition-starved US market. After using the OnePlus Nord 5, I’ve come to the realization that this is what a true Fan Edition phone should look like. One that delivers where it matters, without a confoundingly high price tag slapped on the box. I believe it's a recipe for Samsung to emulate for its next Fan Edition phone.

Read more