Camera Document Translator, one of the most innovative apps I've used

Camera Document Translator, one of the most innovative apps I've used

Turn your camera into a pure OCR translator using this free futuristic tool

In the recent times, the rise of technology combined with better programming techniques being implemented to maximize the output from existing hardware, additionally benefitted by the extreme versatility and openness of android platform has contributed to the development of some of the greatest applications we could have dreamed of. Such apps boost our productivity, maximize our 'yield' (forgive me if you think I use that term rather frequently ;) ) from our lives, do not cost a penny, and yet seamlessly fit into the memories of our smartphones. And one of my latest 'discoveries' is the newly released and fascinating app, 'Camera Document Translator'.

Immediate recognition is a go

Developed by the German company TRR Tech, Camra Document Translator turns your phone into a nearly perfect OCR scanner, translating virtually anything you throw at it to a vast multitude of languages spoken all over the world. Simply point at any text, and the app magically translates it into your language of choice. It utilizes your device's camera, and even if you don't have a back camera, it can make use of your front camera. Cunning programming, combined with simplicity of design has contributed to making the app so elegant. Reminds me again of Clarke's third law, 'any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic'. And this app has really got a Harry Potter feel all around. :)

Some of the reasons which make the app a huge success and a must-have app are:

Settings are neatly organized
and simple to apply/altar

1. Simple design: Once you start the app, it installs the English recognition database and optimizes it for first-run. Then, within the blink of an eye, you get your simple and lovely interface. Any text that fits within the rectangular box at the centre of the screen is immediately recognized, and the corresponding digital text is shown at the top of the screen. By pressing a single button, you can get the immediate translation.

2. Small size: The app is really small, about 4.74 MB in total. It certainly fits well into your phone's memory.

3. Fast recognition: The OCR recognition speed is blazingly fast, and if your connection is reasonably speedy, you can get an immediate translation using Bing's online translator.

4. Language support: Almost all major languages are supported. You can basically scan most languages, and translate to a variety of others. Being an Indian (although not a Hindi-speaker), I immediately tried English-Hindi translation, and things worked perfectly. The same  can be said in the case of German, French, Greek, Spanish and nearly most other languages.

5. Minimal distraction: The app utilizes screen's real-estate well. You have minimal distractions while trying to translate your text.

6. Flexibility: The OCR box can be stretched or shrunk with a single movement of your hand. Using the neat ability integrated into the app, you can decide how much of the text you would like to get translated.

7. Free: It's a major thing. The app is released for free, and is ad-supported. But the use of airpush for ads has guaranteed that those ads won't haunt you.

8. Autofocus: This is an additional bonus. Using continuous preview and autofocus, this app works very quickly with all kinds of texts. In my case, I tried it with a printed file, a newspaper, as well as a book. Worked like a charm in all the cases.

Translation quality is beautiful, with the power of Bing

A little bit of work is required in the case of low-light conditions, and I believe the flash-led can be used to 'light up' the text if required, but there's no doubt that it's a five star app. Additionally, since it is under rapid development, I believe many more features wit quality improvements will be on the list to come.

Be sure to install it from Play Store on your respective device. HERE'S THE WEBLINK. And like I always say, if you're benefitted by the app, be sure to give the dev a big hand by giving it a good rating. :)

Thank you, TRR Tech, for this highly innovative and futuristic app.