Travis has announced that following a third successful crowd-funding project it is ready to expand into the Middle Eastern market. The Travis Touch incorporates wireless charging and currently supports over 100 languages. This is made possible through the aggregation of 16 translation engines, which include major parties such as Microsoft and Google, and a combination of artificial intelligence and machine learning, providing the most accurate translation available.

Travis has set the beginning of the global language movement to transform the way we communicate around the world. With the Travis Touch, you can understand everyone. At work, while travelling or wherever. Easy to use and translates instantly, having a special device is more convenient because it doesn’t drain the phone’s battery, it doesn’t require you to look at the screen or even type, it has a noise cancelling microphone, and can be used in a conversation without the interruption of a call or message.

To accelerate the development of the new Travis Touch, the company launched its 3^rd crowdfunding project in early August and was able to meet its goal in a mere 16 minutes. Since its launch the project has received substantial backing, raising over $260,000 from over 1,000 backers – 527% of its original goal – and quickly rose to become part of the prestigious “Indiegogo Team Favorites” collection. This, in addition to the more than 150,000 units already shipped, makes Travis the largest active community of translation device users.

Shipping has started this month and Travis is in negotiations with channel partners for wider availability with resellers at a recommended retail price of AED 969. As part of the R&D process, Travis has deployed in several environments where accurate translations are vital. So far there have been many positive results coming in from, among others, the local Dutch police force, as well as medical institutions and military forces that have participated in the testing of Travis Touch. Unlike a mobile app, the handheld device has shown to improve non-verbal communication and eye contact.

Travis Touch backers also have the option to donate to Travis Foundation. Travis Foundation was founded with the aim of digitizing languages to reduce inequality. In a world where the answer to almost any question is available online, only about 120 languages are digitized, a fraction of the 7,037 languages in the world. Their first project is creating the digital translation for Tigrinya, the language of Eritrea and northern Ethiopia. Despite that Tigrinya has over 10 million speakers, it hasn’t been digitized as it isn’t considered “commercially interesting’’ by larger corporates.

“Language digitization provides great opportunities in aid work and refugee communication, as well as for language learning and education. We are excited to see Tigrinya on Travis devices in the future,” Elissa Glorie the Director of Travis Foundation.