Naver’s Papago enhances image translation

Papago’s image translation function will be updated to automatically detect text and improve accuracy for three languages.

South Korean tech giant Naver said Monday its service Papago will upgrade its image translation for English, Chinese and Korean. The function translates text captured in images.

The improved image translation uses deep learning technology to enhance text extraction and recognition from an image.

With the “Translate all” feature, users will no longer need to manually highlight text that needs to be translated, as it will automatically detect and translate the text.

According to the company, the technology is currently used for Japanese image translations, and the use of image translation has tripled compared to the same period last year. It has also increased translation accuracy by 57 percent.

Naver said it hopes to further strengthen Papago’s image translation technology, so that it can encompass handwriting in the future.

By Cho Hyee-su (chohyeesu@heraldcorp.com)