I like to collect merchants in Japanese anime. I also Technology creator And a teacher who likes to use technology to make my life easier. On a recent trip to Tokyo, I decided to use the AI features on my phone to help me navigate to the city.
I have visited Japan six times in recent years and as a fan and consumer in Japanese anime and pop culture, I have intended to visit general tourism, pop-up events, special museums and parks many more times. However, my earliest visits in Tokyo were overwhelming and confusing. I had a basic idea of my language, but it was time before AI and Street View on Google Map. I carried a Japanese dictionary with me, downloaded offline walking directions and read online tutorials on how to buy a train ticket. It was … okay.
With the recent popularity of AI, I am allowing myself to visit the countries with a slightly less pre-plan and somewhat shameless. Instead of planning my travel route based on the previous trip, I can use my phone as a personal assistant to help me discover new and less tourist spots, to expose the opportunity to experience my favorite city for the first time and keep my trips fresh and new. And since I am a collector, AI has given me the ability to learn about the alcohol products I find in a foreign store without waste time or cash.
Here are three handy AI features that I recently tested in a real-world scene.
Circle to search
One of my favorite things in Tokyo is all the small vintage toys walk around the shops. It’s like a kind of hunting, and whenever I get nothing in my collection I get excited. The problem is that there are thousands of anime products, I do not memorize them all and have a barrier to a language.
One of the electronics and anime centers in Tokyo and this happened to me in Akihabara. I got this box that features a character I recognized, but I didn’t know what the product was. So, I opened the camera app in my Samsung Galaxy and pressed on the line below to open the circle for searching.
The author draws a circle around the product to start searching any image.
Circle-Two Search is an AI-driven tool built by Google that uses to find the matching results on your screen. In my case, I circled a sailor Moon and the box. Google then searched for a match. The results showed me several images of the character that if I hadn’t already knew who he was, if it were helpful.
I then wandered the other vintage anime to the retailer. Now, I have used the circle to search the price specially to test the price. The item was worth about 300 dollars after the conversion, but was it a good deal? Circle has identified the product for searching and pulling the matching lists from eBay. In general, the price in the store was $ 200 to $ 300 less than the list I received in the US.
Instant translation
It was a great price for a vintage sailor toys. However, since it is electronic, I wondered if there was something wrong with it. The condition is listed on the product label, but I am not very good to translate by memory, so I used Google’s immediate translation feature in the circle for searching. The great thing about using this tool for translations is that I don’t even have to circle anything. I can only hit the translation button at the bottom of the screen and translates everything that shows for me.
The author used instant translation from their phone camera. AI Source Language has been detected as Japanese, saves an input step.
I do not have to translate which language I am trying to translate immediately. It detects the written language for me and translates it automatically. I learned that the toy has been opened and has been somewhat damaged. The translation was mostly right, it was not perfect. And the label didn’t give me all the information I liked.
Conversation mode
I wanted more context, so I asked a store associate for more information using Google Translate conversation mode. Google translations automatically detects spoken language using AI and translate it in reverse language.
In our conversation, I asked for help, then asked if the item works. The store rep has discovered the item number to ensure that it has worked and tested. Previously, every time someone talks to a mic button, I need to translate each phrase separately. However with these extended AI features, the mike is open and uses live information to keep the conversation flow.
When I use conversation mode I try to keep my sentences very easy to prevent misinterpretation, which can happen absolutely. Several words in the Japanese language sound very similar but can mean completely different things – a good example of kawai and kawai (scary and cute). I have 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 “battery” as “butter” and luckily, the employee realized that I was talking about the batteries that gave the device strength. In a general conversation, it will usually be translated as “deny” in Japanese.
The conversation mode works in real time, every time you ask a question you don’t press another button.
I thank the employee for helping me and did not buy the piece of this march, instead of buying a whole new item instead of buying a alcohol to add to my collection. I saved myself money by using the Circle, AI overview and conversation mode. I didn’t just decide to buy a purchase on the basis of the fear of being missing and I was able to ask more contexts.
These AI-driven tools are fairly new and they are not without their errors. However, when a language breaks the barrier or help me to become smarter with my personal hobby, I can really take advantage of them. This is an exciting time for anime collector, worldwide traveler or both.