Student Develops £30 AI Device That Translates Speech in Real Time

A University of Plymouth student has developed a low-cost wearable device capable of translating spoken language and displaying real-time subtitles in front of a user’s eyes, offering an affordable alternative to expensive smart glasses.

Twenty-two-year-old Milya Mohd Asyraf spent six months designing the prototype as part of her Electrical and Electronic Engineering degree. The device, which costs around £30 to build, converts speech into text and projects it onto a small display attached to a user’s glasses via a clip-on electronic module.

Built using affordable and recycled materials, the invention aims to make communication technology more accessible while reducing the cost associated with existing translation devices.

Explaining the inspiration behind the project, Milya said:

“My whole inspiration behind this project is that I grew up in a multilingual environment and was always one of those people who didn’t understand what everyone else was saying.”

She added:

“Language barriers – or even differences in accents – can make communication tricky, and many translation tools currently rely on phones, playback or expensive smart glasses that either interrupt conversations or reduce accessibility.”

According to Milya, her design addresses those challenges by attaching directly to ordinary glasses rather than requiring costly smart eyewear.

“It fits on someone’s glasses without additional features like other smart glasses that cause the high prices.”

The system works by capturing speech through a small microphone. An artificial intelligence model then translates the spoken words and converts them into text in real time.

The translated text is transmitted over Wi-Fi through a microcontroller, which Milya described as:

“A small computer, and that’s how the language is detected and also translated.”

The text is then reflected through a mirror, lens and reflector, appearing like subtitles within the user’s field of vision.

Although the device performs best when configured for a specific language, Milya said its usefulness extends beyond translation.

“Besides translation, it’s really good at transcription.”

She added:

“So, people hard of hearing can have a subtitle display.”

Milya said her long-term goal is to create technology that genuinely improves people’s lives without compromising their privacy.

“I’m really interested in accessibility technology and I’d like to make technology that people actually need, something that doesn’t take advantage of people by taking their data, for example.”

She continued:

“I’d like to make something that people actually would like to use without any of that risk.”

Offering advice to aspiring inventors, she encouraged them to take the first step regardless of experience.

“I would say to just get started immediately, even if you don’t know anything.”

She added:

“Just have a piece of paper and write something down, whether it’s a plan to get out of your head. Everything will fall in place.”