Advertising is a tricky business, and we’ve been very grateful to all the wonderful teams behind some of the best commercials of the past year. But sometimes, you wonder what they were thinking. This video of the new live-translation device, ili, has roared up a reaction on the internet with comments like ‘cringeworthy’ and ‘stalker’, and even comparisons with pick-up artist Julien Blanc. At least their ‘shock advertising’ is getting the word about their product out rather fast, although we suspect the connotations will remain…
Video aside, the ili is a seriously cool product: it’s the world’s first wearable translator, and currently supports English, Chinese and Japanese. Press a button and it’ll automatically translate your voice into the chosen language – and by the looks of the video, in a more fail-proof way than Google Translate. No more hassle when travelling abroad and wanting to ask for help (or kiss someone, apparently). Amazingly, there’s also no need for internet as it has a full translation engine (including travel-lexicon) stored within its slim ranks. Hang one around your neck and you’ll be good to go – from summer 2016, when the first ones are expected to be sold (pre-orders start around March/April). Future models may also include French, Korean, Thai, Spanish, Italian and Arabic, for every globetrotter who lacks knowledge of the local lingo.
More info at www.iamili.com. In the meantime, watch and judge their advertising yourself…
– By Kirsty Bouwers