toby

hey product hunt 👋 we’re super excited to open up what we’ve been working on at toby: a live speech translation desktop app! why we built this we’re a small, multicultural team based in san francisco that speaks 6 different languages combined. we grew up in many countries - including spain, france, china, india, and more - and have always been fascinated by new cultures, languages, and places. given our global backgrounds, we became extremely excited by speech translation tech after realizing that the tech is getting good enough to imagine a future without language barriers 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 we built toby because the language you speak shouldn’t limit your career potential. we’re focusing on work specifically because we’re convinced that this is where removing language barriers will have the biggest impact. we see language as the final frontier before true globalization arises, and the world becomes truly flat - where you can work fluently for a company in china, or a woman in france can work for a company in brazil. we’re enabling you to work with anyone in any language, and are building towards a future where companies can easily find, hire, and work with multilingual talent 🌎 but before you can hire people in other languages, how do you even work or talk to them? that’s why we're starting by building a local application that translates all audio on your computer live. we’re building a world where global teams exist not only beyond physical borders but beyond language barriers. 🗺️ how it works toby is a virtual microphone and speaker that connects to any video call tool you use. to use toby, all you have to do is download our app, set it up on any video call platform (zoom, teams, google meet, etc), & you can start speaking in other languages. we’re starting with 7 of the most spoken languages globally - english, chinese, japanese, spanish, french, german, and portuguese - and are quickly adding more 🚀 toby is unique in translating audio mid-sentence. there’s currently just over a 2-second delay between the first word you say and its translation, which is similar to the speed of a simultaneous interpreter 🏃 some cool features include: - bidirectional audio translation so only one person has to have the local app installed to have a multilingual conversation - personalized glossaries tailored to you and your work which accurately translate industry jargon - spoken and heard transcripts to easily follow along and ensure nothing is lost in translation - volume sliders to change the proportion of original/translated audio you hear we care deeply about your privacy and don’t store any call recordings or audio from your computer. we’re working to make everything run locally on your device for maximum data privacy and security 🔒 how to get started visit our website to download our desktop app, available for mac and windows. we’re offering it for free for the product hunt community for a limited time only, so be sure to be one of the first to download it! 😺 thanks so much for your support and please share any feedback, questions, and comments! our team will be around all day, and we’re looking forward to hearing from you. lucas 🤌

I'm v curious to see how the world changes when language barriers are completely removed. I think it will have a larger impact than people realize.

Whoa, mind blown. I mean it's so different from how Google Translate works but the presentation is everything. The key is I was able to start a demo call and see how it works immediately. This is how you create and show a demo! Congrats on launching @lucaswcampa and team! I can see this being used by so many people across the border or just helping those who can't easily learn a language communicate with others.

I can't believe such cool tech exists already! Makes me feel like we're living in Star Trek. Can't wait to see the effects of this company on the whole world.

An excellent tool for communication, simplifying and helping people who do not speak English. Congratulations TOBY!!! and to your team of professionals who are behind this great project. A good and great innovation of a program accessible to everyone. You are innovative people who think about the help and well-being of everyone. From Ecuador, thank you. A hug.

This looks dope! Also, I can clearly see a consumer use case here. What kind of device requirements do we need to make Toby work seamlessly?

My friend Chris told me about this product , and right away I was intrigued!! I think this product is super smart and helpful in every setting, whether it be business or pleasure. I can’t wait to see its impact on the modern world!