The Youdao Dictionary Pen 3 is designed to offer a host of functionalities, which includes scanning and translating text to English or assisting those with dyslexia or other forms of reading difficulties to continue with their reading. This way, the device can also be beneficial for those who’d like to learn or converse in a foreign language other than English. Right now, the device supports translation from English to Spanish and Chinese and vice-versa. Support for Korean and Japanese languages is slated to be added soon.
The pen works on the principle of Optical Image Recognition or OCR for which it comes with an integrated scanning feature. The makers of the device said it has a recognition rate of 99.6 percent and is able to scan text from various surfaces, including those on screen as well. Similarly, it can detect texts of different colors and fonts too.
Thereafter, the Text-to-Speech or TTS feature converts the texts into audio. Users will be able to adjust the volume as well as the playback speed to suit their requirements. The actual translation bit is taken care of by the Youdao Neural Machine Translation (YNMT) which relies on AI-based technology for an accurate and natural translation of the given text.
Those with dyslexia or other forms of reading impairment will find it easy to read books using the Youdao Dictionary Pen 3. Users will just have to scan the portion of the text they are reading, and the pen will do the rest, that is translate the text if needed followed by reading aloud the portion it just scanned. As already stated, the reading volume, speeds, and accent can all be adjusted as per user preferences.
Further, with more than 4 million entries included with the device, it can function just as fine as a mobile dictionary as well. For this, it features multiple built-in dictionaries such as that of Merriam-Webster. After a text portion is scanned, the pen displays both the original as well as the translated version on the display it comes with. Users can then tap on the individual words to get its meaning. This helps in building vocabulary and makes the pen great for learning new language skills.
Coming to the specs, the Dictionary Pen 3 features a 2.47-inch HD touchscreen display made of 2.5D glass. It comes with 1 GB RAM and 16 GB of storage. The integrated battery lasts for around 8 hours and recharges via the Type-C port it comes with. Connectivity options include Bluetooth and Wi-Fi besides being able to work in offline mode as well. It boasts a metallic build that makes it strong and durable.
As for its availability, the Dictionary Pen 3 can be procured from smartyoudao.com or Amazon. It is priced $249.99 though the company is right now offering a 25 percent discount with the promo code SMARTYOUDAO25.
With a keen interest in tech, I make it a point to keep myself updated on the latest developments in technology and gadgets. That includes smartphones or tablet devices but stretches to even AI and self-driven automobiles, the latter being my latest fad. Besides writing, I like watching videos, reading, listening to music, or experimenting with different recipes. The motion picture is another aspect that interests me a lot, and I'll likely make a film sometime in the future.