Introduction

1.1 Background

The modern world is composed of over 190 countries whose inhabitants speak more than 7000 unique languages and dialects (Pauli, 2019). And as our diverse world’s many countries and languages interact with one another, it is becoming much more commonplace and even required to know more than one language. Unfortunately, not everyone has the luxury of being able to obtain the proper education that will help them acquire any new languages. Maybe the problem is the cost, the accessibility, or the quality of certain language classes, but the reality that stands is that there are people out there who do not have the necessary resources required to learn a new language. 

However, our hard-working team here at Transcommunication Inc. has taken note of these problems and has decided to take matters into our own hands. Noticing the high presence of these problems within multiple Hispanic and Latino communities all over New York City, where our company is based, not only do we know where these problems exist and who they are affecting, but also how they are affecting the communities. With this being said, we are proposing to create an application called “Hola” that will operate on mobile devices (both Android and iOS) and will include features such as real-time translation of conversations in English into Spanish and vice versa, and an efficient language learning platform in order to help tear down the language barrier that exists within the many high density Hispanic and Latino immigrant urban communities of NYC.

1.2 The Need

To further showcase the need for such an innovation, it is best to look at the statistics of the Spanish speaking immigrant community in recent years. According to the “State of Our Immigrant City” annual report of 2018 conducted by the New York City’s Mayor Office of Immigrant Affairs, the Spanish language is the most spoken language other than English within the City. And out of all the speakers of the Spanish language in NYC, approximately 40.9% of those speakers are foreign-born, with most of them still being immigrants (“State of Our Immigrant City,” 2018). Additionally, the report states that 49% of immigrants are “Limited English Proficiency” (LEP), meaning they speak English less than “very well.” What this shows us, is the aforementioned lack of English language education that exists within these immigrant communities, especially Spanish speaking communities, creating a language barrier within the “melting pot” of the world.

Figure 1:  Table showcasing NYC’s linguistic diversity.  Source: State of Our Immigrant City 2018

1.3 Past Innovations and Inventions

Additionally, our team at Transcommunication Inc. has long studied and observed the many languages and translation applications that have predated our current proposal. In doing so, we have been able to design our application “Hola” so that it improves and innovates upon the ideas of our predecessors. To elaborate further, we have taken the world-renowned and highly used Google Translate service and have included a similar functionality into our application. However, Hola approaches the translation of the languages from a different perspective. Instead of simply providing the user with an input and output translation (i.e. The user types in words and the translator outputs a translation), we plan to create a real-time translation service in which the user can speak into the application and will be simultaneously translated as if there was a language interpreter with them. Furthermore, we have also taken elements of the renowned language education platform Duolingo, which has been used by millions around the world as a source to learn multiple languages. With our application, we plan to implement many efficient learning opportunities inside the application — allowing users to not only translate their words but to also give them an understanding of their words. All in all,  “Hola” is presenting a hybrid of language applications on the software market, allowing users to get the best of both worlds into one application.

How the “Hola” application works

2.1 The purpose and message

“Hola” is a unique app that will allow the real-time translation of the Spanish and English languages. Additionally, it will include an education platform that will provide English and Spanish lessons. The app has real-time translation which allows for smooth conversations between two different language speakers.  It provides an alternative to the current language translation services where a person will speak into a device and wait for a translation. The real-time functionality of the application removes the waiting time allowing for seamless translations. The user-friendly design of the app and its controls make this app easily accessible for those that are unfamiliar with translation applications. 

Figure 2: App logo

2.2 Components of the application

Figure 3: Home screen of Hola

1. Profile: The profile section allows the user to set up their information. It allows the user to set their name, language, password, and other general information.  This section is accessed when the user first downloads the app and it allows the user to set everything on their first use of the app. If the user wants to change any of the information, this section can be accessed to change it.
2. Live Conversation: This feature of the app is what makes the app unique. This feature allows the device to connect with another device which is also using the app. Through the connection, the user can access the talk and the chat feature.

• Talk: The talk feature allows the user to speak in their language while holding the talk button and the app simultaneously converts the language spoken and is output in the other device in the language of the other user. This feature makes the app unique. Not only does it translate the language in a faster and simultaneous manner, but also the two users do not have to be in the range of one another. This app allows the possibility of two people who are in two different countries and who speak two different languages to have good verbal communication.
• Text: The text feature allows a user to send messages in their language and the recipient gets the messages in their language and vice versa. This section of the app also allows multiple people to communicate through a group chat. The app converts each message sent by members of the group into the user’s language. This allows multiple people who speak different languages to communicate with one another without any difficulties. 

3. Instant Translator: The user can use this section when the second person does not have the app installed on their mobile device. It has the option of selecting which language the spoken language be translated to. This section also provides a dialogue box that allows the user to type the message and convert it into the desired language. 

The cost, time, labor, and innovation

Since we are primarily focused on a translation application targeted towards a Hispanic and Latino population, our core focus remains on the Spanish language. We will be using the computer languages of Java and Swift for Android and iOS, respectively, to develop our application. The processes that involve developing our application will require the elements that we have discussed in previous paragraphs. 

Innovation:

• Our team is focused on making the app simple, user friendly, and smooth as possible.
• For the most part, the work would be done by the team including designing, coding, market research, and transition to the customers.
• We would make a mockup app that would illustrate our application’s main functions including visual, typography, and audio details.
• The main purpose of making a mockup application is to test the customer’s interest and relevance to the application including all the aspects of the application in detail.
• Once the mockup application is completed with user testing a final prototype will be built which will give us the chance to go under any changes required and to build a more user-friendly application.
• We will offer more services and languages gradually. 

Time

• The main objective is to give customers a good experience and it takes a good time to make a good application. The time would be approximately 3 months.
• 1^st Week- Sketching the idea of our application.
• 2^nd Week- Researching the market and need for the application to reach certain demographics and locations.
• 3^rd Week- Gathering all the information and analyzing it critically.
• 4^th Week- Start creating a mock-up application.
• 5^th-8^th Week- Working on application to include all the elements and ideas we sketched including coding, designing, and testing the application.
• 9^th -12^th Week- Launching a mock-up application to gather customer interaction.
• 13^th -15^th Week- Utilizing customer reviews and critics to make a final prototype would be built using consultation from expert graphic designers and experts in the fields. 
• 16th Week- Launching the application in all platforms IOS, Android, and Windows. Keep focusing on customer interaction to make it better than before. 

Labor

• Most of the work would be done by the team and there would be some expert consultations. 
• The team of four has a plan and outline and would be working tirelessly and smartly to get the job done.

Cost

Making Cost:

The making cost would be from   $4500-$5500 approximate.

• The cost for graphic designer and other expert consultations – $1000
• Cost for appropriate software and data – $1500
• Transportation costs (including group meeting) – $1000
• Miscellaneous cost – $1000

Cost for customers

• You can download the application for free.
• You can upgrade from the free version to the premium version with monthly subscriptions for $1.99 to enjoy more services and without ads.
• To generate money from the free version we will be running ads and asking for donations. 

Conclusion

In conclusion, we believe that our invention will have a significant impact on the way human beings communicate with one another. The world is growing every day, and more and more mediums of communication are being developed. We believe our invention will allow individuals to extend their realm of communication and learn and cooperate with those who speak Spanish. An invention is the machine that allows one to instantly translate the English language to Spanish and vice versa. Spanish is the second most popular language worldwide, this invention makes communicating for all forms of personnel much easier. Thus, we believe this invention involves reinventing the way we communicate, allowing us to reach new levels of human understanding we did not deem achievable, and further bridge the gap between people.

REFERENCES

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Barbee, B. (2019, January 19). Turn Your Phone into an Interpreter With the Five Best Translation Apps. Digital Trends.<https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/best-translation-apps/>

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Paul, P.(2019, May 19). Chat Icon. Dreamstime.<https://www.dreamstime.com/chat-icon-sms-bubble-comments-communication-talk-speech-bubbles-vector-flat-design-chat-icon-sms-icon-call-chat-bubble-comments-image148080379 >

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Kemp, S.(2020, January 30). Digital 2020: 3.8 Billion People use Social Media. We are social.

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Pauli, M. (2019, November 3). How Many Language Are There In The World. Babbel Magazine. 

<https://www.babbel.com/en/magazine/how-many-languages-are-there-in-the-world>

New York City (2018, March). State of our Immigrant City Annual Report. MOIA 2018. 

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Reflection

The technical innovation group proposal has been one of the most unique projects I have ever worked on in my academic life. I for one, thoroughly enjoyed working on this project with my group, although it would have been much more enjoyable had the pandemic not shifted schedules so drastically. With this being the first group project in the Writing for Engineers class, as well as the final project, I knew I had to work hard and put in a lot of effort. Luckily, I had the assistance and the pleasure of working with my groupmates Sarvesh, Milan and Manish who were also just as hardworking and enthusiastic about completing the project as I was. Together, we continuously fed off each other’s thoughts to design an innovation worth proposing for.

The innovation we have proposed for the project, was a mobile application aimed at bringing real-time translation services for Spanish and English while also providing an education platform for those willing to learn the two languages. Since our idea was based on the mobile application market, this required us to take on a startup mentality, much like the ones behind big tech/computer science oriented companies such as “Uber,” “Yelp,” and “Duolingo.” We split up the project into various parts, assigning a specific person to a certain part like how a company would have dedicated people to each field.  Some of us worked on the introduction, some of us in the description and some on the conclusion. This allowed for full efficiency of work being done during the project. However, while we were separated in terms of our work sections, we were still able to swiftly jump around in the project and feed off of each other by giving any necessary critiques and comments. As a result, I was able to achieve one of the course learning outcomes stated in the syllabus, specifically the one regarding the acknowledgement of my own and other’s range of linguistic differences and resources and developing upon those differences to synthesize new ideas. This idea was evident because some of my peers were not as grammatically fluent in writing English as I was, causing me to have to help them with ideas like sentence structure and formatting. Overall, the diversity allowed for me to gain a new perspective on these new assignments, as I had never really put myself in the shoes of my ESL (English as a second language) classmates before. This also brought up another course learning outcome, which was developing and engaging in the collaborative and social aspects of the writing process. Prior to this project, I did not think about the social perspectives of writing, and how where someone was from could easily dictate how they wrote. 

The proposal project was also the first time in the class I had ever submitted two drafts before submitting the final document. With two levels of the drafting process, I believe that I was able to truly enhance and perfect my writing. I was able to take Professor Davidow’s insightful comments, and make the appropriate changes. When it came to finding the information required to complete certain sections of the project, I called upon the research skills I learned in the multiple lessons of the Writing for Engineers class. I utilized library resources and online databases as well as the Internet to locate the many sources I needed to construct the need for the innovation, as well as to compare and contrast it to other innovations of the same light. Overall, the group proposal project was truly a unique assignment, and one I hope to replicate in my professional life one day, as I had a great amount of enjoyment crafting up a unique innovation. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic we were not able to present our great innovation, but I am sure it would have been just as fun as the project itself. As I learned a great amount about the topic my group chose, I also learned how to work with others working towards the same goal. This gave me a slight glimpse into how my professional life will be like one day, so I will definitely not take this experience of a project for granted.