Imagine an app that could translate what you say accurately so you can communicate with hot girls from other countries?
Well, there are actually plenty of translation apps out there, not least Siri.
But wearable technology company LogBar claim their device ili is unique because it doesn’t require an online connection, yet can still translate between English, Chinese and Japanese just by speaking into it.
They boast:
ili is the world’s first wearable translator for travelers. Say goodbye to all language barriers.
And they marketed it by showing it in action with a gaijin (British, which makes it creepier) trying to pick up Japanese girls in a quite a cringeworthy promo video.
After announcing “I’m gonna try and kiss girls I’ve never met before using this translation device, ili,” our dauntless host sets off to look for prey in the concrete jungle of Tokyo, and things get creepy in fairly short order.
What is about foreigners in Japan trying to kiss random girls?
The people behind this app are actually Japanese (“LogBar creates global dialogue” — yes, quite) and they thought this video was a good way to show off the technology. Yes, we see all the girls lining up to download it now.
Well, he had some success, it seems, despite kissing in public in Tokyo being almost unheard of except among drunk people or gaijin-hunters.
Maybe he should have just got some tips from the successful pick-up artist David Bond instead? There’s a lot to be said for analogue sleaze too.
That being said, we suspect the street “encounters” are not genuine (the only one that looked real was the hottie in the short skirt hitting him with her handbag and storming off with a “Don’t touch me”) and the video is just a marketing stunt. Even the translations sound too accurate and we doubt he was just spontaneously saying English phrases.
Keep in mind LogBar is the same company behind the much-hyped flop, Ring, so after the fuss dies down this product may not living up to hopes of prospective kissers roaming the streets of Tokyo.
