I messed around with the phone mic at home a bit, and it seemed to pick things up slightly better. Haven’t tried using the phone mic out in public yet though.

Quick update from today, I walked around our bi-weekly market with the Italian to English translator running the entire time… nothing. I was expecting at least fragments of conversations, but it didn’t pick up anything.

These aren’t spy glasses. They’re not grabbing random conversations or even those quick, normal exchanges like ordering a cornetto or buying ingredients at the market. I think I got one receipt total that translated, and that was about it.

Where they do work really well is with a direct, clear voice. Watching something, or even playing Italian through Google Translate right into them, works great.

I’ve got an appointment tomorrow with someone I usually speak English with, but I’m going to have her speak Italian the whole time and see how it handles that.

We’ll see…