Japan's high tech firm, NEC has introduced a new gadget, shaped like a pair of glasses, which is aimed at helping people sharpen their linguistic skills and break communication barriers by offering instant real-time language translation. Wearers of the device will be able to communicate with people of several different languages.

Christened the Tele Scouter, the computer aided device will use an imaging device to project the translations directly onto the wearer's retina. Through voice recognition and various translation programs, the device would provide translations like subtitles in a movie. For the sake of conversation, both people have to be wearing the glasses.

"You can keep the conversation flowing", NEC market development official Takayuki Omino explained. "This could also be used for talks involving confidential information, negating the need for a human translator".

The first lot of the device, intended for sales staff and translations, is all set to hit the markets in 2011. A set of 30 devices would cost companies as much as 7.5 million yen
($83,300), in addition to the cost of customized software application.