Quest Visual
View on WikipediaQuest Visual, Inc. was an American private company that developed Word Lens, an augmented reality translation application.[1] In May 2014, the company was acquired by Google, Inc.[2][3][4]
Key Information
Company
[edit]Quest Visual was founded by a former video game developer Otavio Good[5][6][7] in 2009.[1] At the time of acquisition, the company had 4 full-time employees (Good, John DeWeese, Bryan Lin, and Eric Park,) and a contractor, Maia Good.[7] The details of the acquisition have not been released.[2][3][4][8]
Products
[edit]Quest Visual's first product, Word Lens 1.0, was released on December 16, 2010,[5] and was available in 2015 as Word Lens 2.2.3 for Apple's iPhone, iPod, and iPad through iTunes,[9] as well as for a selection of Android smartphones through Google Play.[10] It was unavailable as of 2021.[9] At Google's unveiling of its Glass Development Kit in November 2013, the translation capabilities of Word Lens were also demonstrated on Google Glass.[11][12][13][14] According to a January 2014 New York Times article, Word Lens is currently free for Google Glass.[15] Google also made all Word Lens language packs freely available for a "limited time".[3][4][8][16][17] Word Lens capabilities were incorporated into the Google Translate app and released on January 14, 2015.[18][19][20][21] The company did not have any other products by the time of acquisition.[22]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c d Armstrong, Natalie (April 19, 2011). "Word Lens app developer builds on social media buzz". Reuters. Retrieved April 19, 2011.
- ^ a b Etherington, Darrell (May 16, 2014). "Google Has Acquired Quest Visual, The Maker Of Camera-Based Translation App Word Lens". TechCrunch.
- ^ a b c Rosenblatt, Seth (May 16, 2014). "Google buys Word Lens maker to boost Translate". CNET.
- ^ a b c Hall, Zac (May 16, 2014). "Google acquires Word Lens app recently featured in Apple's iPhone ad "Powerful"". 9to5Mac.
- ^ a b Tsotsis, Alexia (December 16, 2010). "Word Lens Translates Words Inside of Images. Yes Really". TechCrunch. Retrieved April 19, 2011.
- ^ Milian, Mark (December 20, 2010). "New iPhone app translates foreign-language signs". CNN: Tech. Retrieved April 19, 2010.
- ^ a b Olson, Parmy (December 22, 2010). "Hot, New 'Word Lens' App Is Founder's First Project In Augmented Reality". Forbes. Retrieved April 19, 2011.
- ^ a b Winkler, Rolfe (May 16, 2014). "Google Tries Another Reality With Quest Visual Purchase". The Wall Street Journal.
- ^ a b "Word Lens on the iTunes App Store". iTunes. 2012. Archived from the original on December 21, 2010. Retrieved January 18, 2015.
- ^ "Word Lens on the Google Play Store". 2012. Retrieved January 18, 2015.
- ^ Gannes, Liz (November 19, 2013). "Next Google Glass Tricks Include Translating the World From Your Eyes". All Things Digital.
- ^ Honan, Mat (November 19, 2013). "Google's New Tools Show How Deep Glass Will Embed in Our Lives". Wired: Gadget Lab.
- ^ Rosenblatt, Seth (November 19, 2013). "Google Glass throws open its doors to developers". CNET.
- ^ Lardinois, Frederic (November 24, 2013). "Glass Just Got Way More Interesting". TechCrunch.
- ^ Rosenbloom, Stephanie (January 23, 2014). "Google Tools for Globetrotters". The New York Times: Travel.
- ^ Tschorn, Adam (May 22, 2014). "Say what? Word Lens translation app is easy and free (for now)". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ "Quest Visual is joining Google!". questvisual.com. 2014. Retrieved May 26, 2014.
- ^ Turovsky, Barak (January 14, 2015). "Hallo, hola, olá to the new, more powerful Google Translate app". Google: Official Blog. Retrieved January 14, 2015.
- ^ Dougherty, Conor (January 14, 2015). "Google Translate App Gets an Upgrade". The New York Times: Bits. Retrieved January 17, 2015.
- ^ Rosenbloom, Stephanie (January 14, 2015). "Updates for Google Translate (Just Hold Up Your Phone)". The New York Times: In Transit. Retrieved January 18, 2015.
- ^ Ulanoff, Lance (January 15, 2015). "Hands on with Google Translate: A mix of awesome and OK". Mashable. Retrieved January 18, 2015.
- ^ "Quest Visual website". QuestVisual.com. 2011. Retrieved April 20, 2011.
External links
[edit]- Quest Visual homepage
- Word Lens on iTunes
- Original video demonstration of Word Lens
- Otavio Good explains Word Lens 1.0.1 (interview with Reuters)