Brazilian startup launches App that puts an interpreter for other languages in your pocket during the Olympics

The Univoxer app locates and contacts an interpreter anywhere in the world via mobile to mediate a conversation between two people who do not speak the same language, simplifying the communication for athletes, tourists and service providers during and after the Olympics. End Quote

(1888PressRelease) July 28, 2016 - How many times have we seen people resorting to mime to try to communicate with a stranger? Would not it be better to have a person next to who speaks both languages to mediate the conversation?

In the midst of final preparations for the biggest sporting event in the world, when Rio de Janeiro will receive more than 800 thousand foreigners, including the greatest athletes of each country, resurfaces the language barrier between the Brazilians and this great audience. It is in this line that the Univoxer app arises, which locates and puts anyone in contact, via mobile, with an interpreter fluent in Portuguese and in the language you want to speak, to provide support and facilitate the conversation with a person from another country, such as for a foreigner that wants to talk to a Brazilian.

While automatic translation services are literal translation of what is written, not perceiving regional expressions of everyday use or context of what is spoken, which can become a meaningless or embarrassing conversation, the action of an interpreter fluent in both languages allows the context of who wish to speak is communicated to another person, adding the cultural interpretation of the theme and avoiding misunderstandings.

The service was born from the experience of the Brazilian team of '14Bis Project', of the Ministry of Sports, during the London Olympics in 2012, which noted several communication problems occurring because there was no availability of translators in the games location or around the city. Interpreters had, but they were not always available at the place and time that were needed by the public, athletes or service providers. Thus, the Univoxer project was born, which optimizes the performance of the interpreters wherever they are in the world: "A Brazilian who speaks Japanese and English, but is now in New York, can answer and facilitate the conversation between athletes from Australia and Japan or even those with the waiter of a restaurant in Rio de Janeiro during the Olympics, streamlining contact and resolving any situation", cites Rafael Plentz, CEO of Startup that bears the same name of the App. The project was also one of the 100 selected by 'Sinapse da Inovação' program of FAPESC (Research Support Foundation of Santa Catarina State), among more than 1,800 entries.

After the Olympics, the service will be internationalized, enabling support of any language, for use by service providers in tourist locations around the world and to tourists, according to the UNWTO (World Tourism Organization) will hit the 1 billion mark in 2020. "It will be a mixture of Uber with WhatsApp for support to the tourists," adds Plentz, indicating that the proposal is that the service becomes an "Olympic legacy" for tourism and Brazilian Innovation, to be made available to support the foreigners in all tourist cities, providing support to providers of national and international services at tourist locations, and foreigners present in Brazil and Brazilians abroad, besides being inserted in the Olympic array to support the athletes in future events, taking Rio's and Brazil names, at the same time shows to the world that there is the latest technology in our country.

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