Technology

In one memorable passage in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, protagonist Authur Dent has a small yellow fish inserted into his ear. Once he’s gotten over the feeling of the Babel fish slithering into his ear canal, suddenly, he can understand Vogon. The Guide was published in 1979, but technology has finally caught up with Douglas Adams’ imagination.

Today, you can order a pair of Samsung Galaxy Buds that include a live translation feature. There are also brands like Vasco Electronics, which make earbuds specifically designed for real-time, hands-free multilingual communication, but it’s limited to a handful of well-resourced languages, none of which are African.