[PR] What is AI translation? Does Immersive Translate reduce the 'stress of reading'? I tried it out!

★ This article contains PR content for which I was requested to write an experience review of "Immersive Translate".

What makes AI translation different from the online translation we've had until now?

Are you all aware that something called "AI translation" is starting to become widespread?

The development of generative AI is remarkable, and the number of people who have started creative activities using AI is increasing day by day.

Of course, I am one of them.

Using AI, I am enjoying the pleasure of creating things like images, music, and novels that I never touched before because I thought they were "impossible" for me.

Services specialized for specific purposes are also increasing rapidly.

In the midst of this, an AI service specialized in "translation"

Immersive Translate

I was asked to write a review, and that was the first time I learned that there is an AI specialized for translation.

There are many translation services now, and browsers even have standard translation features, don't they?

From the user's perspective, how stress-free the reading experience is is probably the most important point.

Are you all fully satisfied with the current translation content?

Sometimes when I'm looking for technical information, I end up on overseas websites.

With just browser translation, there are many situations where it's hard to grasp the meaning without reading the original text.

With AI translation, could it be that we can read more naturally than before by taking context into account, and reduce unnecessary stress?

I'm a little excited about that.

I'd like to try out the things I've thought of!

Before that, here are the features of Immersive Translate that I have high expectations for

◾️ "Bilingual display" that places the original and translated text side-by-side
Because it displays the original text and the translation side-by-side without breaking the page layout, you can understand the nuances at a glance.

◾️ Wide support for text, video subtitles, PDFs, and even manga
I wonder if many people are interested in the video feature?
Above all, I am interested in the PDF support!

◾️ Reliable privacy design
Translated content is not saved, and it is not used for AI training.

★ This! This is arguably the most important point.
There are AI services I pay for specifically to ensure that my documents and program contents are not used for AI training!

The purpose of paying for an AI service is not just for tokens, but rather this purpose is more significant.
And that is applied even to the free plan!

First things first, account registration

Account registration is very easy, and the "usual" registration style worked fine.

In my case, I basically registered with my Google account.

After that, it seems best to install the browser extension or the smartphone app.

I will try installing the Chrome extension.

[Currently fixed] I stumbled on just one screen during the Chrome extension installation

After starting the installation, you just need to press the "Continue" button for a few steps, but I stumbled a bit on this screen.

Even though I intended to press "Continue," the policy agreement checkbox at the very top would get clicked instead.

I think it might be because my Macbook Pro screen is small, but I couldn't press the button.

I decided to press the button using keyboard operations (Tab + Enter) here.

I also installed the iPhone version

Since this is installed from the App Store as usual, there were no stumbling blocks.

After launching, a pop-up for selecting a paid plan appears, but I closed it without selecting a plan.

The labeling here was a bit confusing, but it seems you can use it for free without choosing one of the two paid plans.

On the app screen, icons for YouTube, X, etc., are displayed so you can start using them immediately, and there is also a field provided to enter any URL.

First, a test run on my smartphone

I opened Reddit and selected an article at random.

Somehow, I was able to read it normally.
Is it because the content is general?
Is it because the accuracy is high?

Browsing Stack Overflow

There is a site called Stack Overflow that IT engineers end up at when they are in trouble.

While there are naturally many times when browser translation makes the meaning clear at a glance, there are also times when it just doesn't quite click.

I think the way people use it varies, but in my case, I often look at the Japanese translation and the English original alternately side by side.

For now, I looked for a translation that felt a bit stressful.

Since the meaning itself is understandable here, it's just a little bit of stress from "strange phrasing," but I will compare them."strange phrasing" is just a little stressful, but I will compare them.

First, browser translation.

And next, Immersive Translate translated version.

There is quite a difference, but I will pick one part from the sentence "even if that library...".

I can sort of imagine what a 'maintenance nightmare' is.

However, when reading the Immersive Translate side, I know what it's saying without even having to think about it.

Overall, I find the latter to be overwhelmingly easier to read, but what do you all think?

What I'm happiest about is that the original text is displayed so I can read it for comparison.

When things get complicated, it can be dangerous to expect 100% accuracy from translation features.

Therefore, especially for work, comparative verification is essential.

With the 'free translation service,' it took a little time for the translation to complete, but when I tried using 'BabelFast' from the pro models, I was able to translate without any time-related stress.

I also recommend selecting text and translating it via right-click.

'Maintenance nightmare' doesn't look much different from 'maintenance nightmare' (in Japanese), but the bottom half clearly explains what it is about!

Try translating a PDF

I've prepared an English document for testing.

I thought about something a bit tricky that includes programs or commands, and realized that although it's been stopped for a while, there's something perfect for this!

I had Gemini summarize the most recent article on 'making something like an OS,' which could be called the synonym for tricky.

The file I'm testing this time is a PDF.

It supports various other formats as well, so I'll post a screen showing the list!

The screen I actually used is at the link for 'Try the new version.'
It's a simple operation of just dragging and dropping the file.

Looking at this screen, it seems you can upload one file or multiple files.

Since I couldn't prepare multiple materials, I will try translating one file.

Let's upload the file right away!
The document translation mode selection screen has opened.

First, I'll try BabelDOC.
But before that, I'll introduce auseful featurethat the representative told me about.

📌 With BabelDOC, you can also use glossaries for specialized fields and your own custom dictionaries!

In BabelDOC, you can not only choose the translation engine, but also specify'glossaries for specialized fields'.

Before pressing the 'Translate Now' button, it's the part indicated by the red frame on the screen below.

There are many useful ones prepared, such as Medical, Music, Games, Education, etc.

This is a hastily prepared document of my own, but I think the field would be 'Technology' or 'Programming'.

I think it's already amazing up to this point, but...

Although I was told about this, I had to search a bit to find where to create them, so I'll show you here!

Press the Chrome extension button to open the pop-up screen.
There is a 'Settings' button at the bottom left, so click that.

Click 'AI Glossary' from the menu on the left.

Click 'Create New Glossary' in the red frame area of the image.

You can create your own unique dictionary like this!

Of course, you can alsoedit the dictionaries provided from the start in the same way.

Personally, I think this isquite important.

New technical terms keep appearing one after another, don't they?

If you are waiting for dictionary maintenance,you might not know when it will be added,and I think there are cases where that could happen.

I thought this featureseems like it could scratch that itchas well.

I haven't been able to touch on it this time, but you can also specifydetailed optionssuch as language settings, the AI service used for translation, the range of pages to be translated, and the display method.

It seems like it can beused widelywhile changing settings to suit the situation.

Trying out actual translation with BabelDOC

Once you specify the necessary options and press the 'Translate Now' button, all that's left is to wait for the translation to finish.

The translation accuracy of the Pro version was clearly smoother.
Also, it's interesting that even within the Pro version, differences emerge depending on the engine selected.

This is only when compared to the Pro version, but there were times when the free version felt like a literal translation, and for me, I felt that the Pro version had overwhelmingly less reading stress.

What I'm happy about is thatthe inside of the code blocks (the black parts) is not translated!

These are parts thatwould be problematic if translated!
The other parts are the same, and furthermore, the indentation (the margin at the beginning of the line) was also properly preserved.

Indentation is important, but it often gets broken when subjected to translation.

I am very happy that this has not collapsed even after being translated.

However, I think this is unavoidable since it is a PDF, but line breaks were inserted only in parts that did not fit within the line.

Points that I still want to do something about in BabelDOC

First, let me clarify that I expect this isnot a translation issue, but an issue with how the generated PDF was assembled.

The dark background color is placed on top of the text.
When I double-clicked, I found that the text that should be underneath was selected, and its length varied depending on the double-click position.

In other words,I cannot judge whether there is a problem with the translationbut thelayer relationshipbetween the text and the background seems to be reversed.

Even if you can get a translation with little stress, I thought it was a great waste thatthe number of places that need to be processed increases.

However, considering the specifications of PDF, I don't think this is a problem specific to Immersive Translate.

Of course, on the other hand, since it is AI, I also feel that it would be nice if it could handle those things well too.

Trying out PDF Pro as well

In PDF Pro, unlike BabelDOC, the appearance of the PDF was not maintained.
Like Web translation, it is a format where the translation is written out after the English text.

Since I want to read and understand the content with less stress, I thought this might be more straightforward for the purpose than having parts that cannot be read because they are dragged by the troublesome specifications of PDF.

What is surprising is that the white frame parts, most of the parts where programs or data structures are written, have not been touched at all.
* Although the margins in the image sample section have no programmatic meaning, there are quite a few cases where meaningful margins are included.

However, for things like execution results and error contents, even though they were enclosed in code blocks in the same way, the original text + translation were output.

Since it is better to understand the meaning of these, they are parts that should be translated.

I also felt that the AI was judging the translation target by considering the content.

Finally, trying out image translation

I created a common English configuration diagram and checked it there.

The left side is the original, the top right is the free version, and the bottom is the translation result with the pro version.

The background of the part where the translated text is drawn seems to be filled in.

The retention of position mentioned in the claims.
I found that the accuracy clearly improves when using the pro version.

I don't really know where the "EASIER =RE" in the free version came from.
Since there are also translation omissions, it is clear that the accuracy is improved by using the pro model.

It was a shame that the labels A and D disappeared in the Pro version.

Despite that, there are parts I really liked.

I felt it was very close, but still one step away.

However, I am actually not very pessimistic about it.

As model generations advance and tuning progresses, I felt from the translation of technical terms that it has reached a level where it will surprisingly be fine eventually.

📘 Overall impressions

This time, I tried it out focusing on technical materials I use daily, such as web pages, PDFs, and technical architecture diagrams.

The first thing I felt was that it definitely reduces the stress of reading compared to standard browser translation.

In particular, the bilingual display provides a sense of security that you can check the original text on the spot while reading, which I felt is very convenient for those who often research overseas technical information.

You can try it sufficiently with the free version, but with the Pro version, you can feel a clear difference in natural phrasing tailored to the context and the handling of technical terms.
The impact on readability was greater than I imagined.

Of course, there were moments where I thought it was "one step away," such as fine labels disappearing in image translation or feeling challenges with the layout in PDF translation.

Even so, from the way it leaves parts that should not be translated as they are and tries to maintain code and indentation, it conveys that it is trying to translate while considering the content, rather than just simple character replacement.

I tried it mainly with technical materials this time, but Immersive Translate supports not only web pages but also YouTube subtitles, e-books, manga, and more.

I think the evaluation will change depending on the use case, but it is a service where you can feel the value of being able to easily reach information that you had put off reading because it was in English.

If you are someone who thought you would be happy if you could reduce the stress of reading English materials even a little during your daily information gathering, please try it out!

For those people, I have received a gift code for a trial!

🎁 Pro version 1-week free trial + 9% off forever

Ask me anything! I will answer everything I can!

Is the setup complete? Trying out a note question box in someone else's garden unexpectedly! | Heron

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