It’s the world’s first offline translator designed and optimized for travelers. It does not require WiFi and can finish translation in as fast as 0.2 seconds.
HONG KONG – The DFA Design for Asia Awards organised by Hong Kong Design Centre (HKDC) aims to celebrate design leadership, exemplary designs and projects with commercial success and impact in Asia. Japanese company Logbar has been awarded the Silver Award for its offline translation device “ili,” which went viral on social media attracting over 100 million views and impressing netizens from all over the world. For the first time ever, ili is now available in Hong Kong at Design for Asia @ kapok, a collaboration between HKDC and Kapok, a Hong Kong-based lifestyle store.
Thirteen award-winning design innovations from various Asian regions are being showcased at the pop-up store for trial and purchase. One of the most captivating and talked about products at the store is this portable and stylish gadget ili. It’s the world’s first offline translator designed and optimized for travelers. It does not require WiFi and can finish translation in as fast as 0.2 seconds. The device can translate English to Japanese, Spanish and Mandarin. This is the perfect tool for those seeking unique travel experiences and fascinating locations only locals would know. Letting you get closer to the locals and express yourself anytime, anywhere, ili will change the way you travel.
While asked about the design point of view and features of ili, Kato Kyoichiro, Product Designer of Logbar, said, “We want to revolutionize the way people travel with science and technology. Tourists tend to use mobile apps for translation, which can take time to set-up, and users are constantly ignoring eye contact while looking at the screen. This can lead to awkward and unnatural interactions with locals. Our human-centered design focuses on reducing the stress involved with traveling and maintaining a natural conversation process. For instance, ili’s speaker is designed to face the listener so the translation is delivered clearly, unlike mobile phones. We designed ili to be convenient, lightweight and be able to translate instantly and naturally.”
These thoughtful design features may be the reasons why ili is so popular worldwide. Last June, the first 10,000 units of Logbar’s device were sold out in just 3 days.
Tatiana is the news co-ordinator for TravelDailyNews Media Network (traveldailynews.gr, traveldailynews.com and traveldailynews.asia). Her role includes to monitor the hundrends of news sources of TravelDailyNews Media Network and skim the most important according to our strategy. She holds a Bachelor degree in Communication & Mass Media from Panteion University of Political & Social Studies of Athens and she has been editor and editor-in-chief in various economic magazines and newspapers.
