I love picking up Japanese anime goods. I am also a Technology creator And an educator who likes to use technology to facilitate my life. In a recent trip to Tokyo, I decided to use AI features to my telephone To help -to browse the city.
I have visited Japan six times in recent years and, as an amateur and consumer of pop culture and the consumption of Japanese anime and pop culture, I intend to visit many more times for general tourism, pop-up events, specialized museums and parks. But my first visits to Tokyo were overwhelming and confusing. I had a basic understanding of the language, but this was a moment before the AI and the street view on Google Maps. I brought a Japanese dictionary with me, downloaded off -line walking signs and read tutorials online on how to buy a train ticket. It was … OK.
With Recent popularity of the AII allow myself to visit countries with a little less planning and a little more serendipity. Instead of planning my previous travel itinerary, I can use my phone as a personal assistant to help me discover new and less touristy places along the way, opening an opportunity to experience my favorite city again for the first time and maintaining my refreshing and new trips. And since I am a collector, Alas has also given me the opportunity to learn about vintage products that I find in overseas stores without losing time or cash.
Here are three IA features that I recently tried in a real world stage.
Circle to search
One of my favorite things in Tokyo is to stroll through all the small vintage toy stores. It’s like a treasure hunt and, as long as I find something I don’t have in my collection, I am excited. The problem is that there are thousands of anime products, I do not have them memorized and there is a linguistic barrier.
This happened to me at Akihabara, one of the electronic centers and anime in Tokyo. I found this box I had a character I recognized, but I didn’t know what the product was. Therefore, I opened the camera application to my Samsung galaxy and kept the background line to open the circle to search for it.
The author drew a circle around the product to start a picture search.
Circle To Search is a tool fed by Ai created by Google that uses the image of the screen to find coincident results. In my case, I traveled a sailor box. Then Google sought a match. The results showed me several pictures of the character, which would have been useful if I didn’t know who he was.
Then I strolled to another vintage anime retailer. This time I used circle to look specifically to check the price. The item was about $ 300 after the conversion, but was it a good offer? Circle to search identify the product and removed the Ebay match listings. In general, the shop price was 200 to $ 300 less than the listings I found in the United States.
Instant translation
This was an impressive price for a toy by Sailor Moon Vintage. But since it is electronic, I wondered if there was something wrong. The condition appears on the product label, but I am not very good to translate by memory, so I used the Google instant translation function inside the circle to search. The best thing to use this tool for translations is that I don’t even have to do anything. I just pressed the translation button at the bottom of the screen and translates everything you see.
The author used the translated instant from the camera of the phone. The AI detected the language of origin as a Japanese, saving an entry passage.
I do not even have to say instant translation which language I try to translate. It detects the written language for me and automatically translates it. I learned that the toy had been open and slightly damaged. Although the translation was mostly correct, it was not perfect. And the label did not give me all the information I wanted.
Conversation
I wanted more context, so I asked a store member more information through Google Translate’s conversation mode. Using AI, Google automatically translates automatically detects the spoken language and translates it into the opposite language.
In our conversation, I asked for help, and then asked if the item was working. The shop representative sought the item number to confirm that it worked and had been tested. Previously, you should translate each sentence separately by hitting a microphone button every time someone was talking. But with these functions, the microphone remains open and uses live information to maintain the flowing conversation.
When I use the conversation mode, I try to make my sentences very simple to avoid badness, which can happen absolutely. Several words in Japanese language seem very similar, but they can mean totally different things: Kowai and Kawaii (scary and friendly) are a good example. I studied the language, but I still have a lot to learn, so I didn’t want to be misunderstood.
This live translation also detected my word “drums” as a “battery” and, fortunately, the employee understood that he was talking about batteries that feed the device. In normal conversations, this would usually be translated as “Denchi” in Japanese.
The mode of conversation works in real time, without having to press another button every time you ask a question.
I thanked the employee for helping me and did not buy this merch piece, choosing instead of buying a vintage item, but completely new to add to my collection. Through the Circle to search, the general vision of the AI and the mode of conversation, I saved money. I did not make a purchase decision based only on the fear of getting lost and I could ask for more context.
These tools powered by AI are quite new and are not failed. But when breaking up a language barrier or helping me to be smarter with my personal hobbies, I can really take advantage of them. It is an exciting time to be an anime collector, a worldwide traveler or both.
