via The Japan Times: Japanese start-up Donut Robotics will be releasing a new product called “c-mask”, a face-mask cover that they claim can translate spoken Japanese into eight other languages, using you smartphone’s Bluetooth connection and a dedicated app to aid translation.

The masks designed to fit over a typical surgical or fabric mask, and is set to retail for around USD $40 each. The “c-mask” is slated for release in Japan in September; the developer is also looking to sell the masks overseas in China, the United States, and Europe.

The “c-mask” was conceptualised by Donut Robotics as a way to capitalise on their existing technologies, after their contract to supply robot guides and translation technology to Tokyo’s Haneda Airport stalled, due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.