Augmented reality (AR) gaming company Gravity Jack has announced its plan to create natural language processing (NLP) models that can translate to every single language in the world, powered by its upcoming AR game, War Tribe of Binyamin.
According to Gravity Jack founder and chief visionary officer Luke Richey, there are more than 7,200 languages in the world, and half of the global population speaks the top 100 most widespread languages. This means that 50% of the world has the remaining 7,100 languages as their first language. While many speak at least one of the top 100 languages, this is not their “heart language”. Research shows that 72.4% of consumers are more likely to buy a product if it were presented in their heart language, which shows the huge untapped potential in communicating to people using the language that most naturally comes to them. However, it is not economically viable to create NLP models for these languages, so tech giants concentrate only on the top 100 most-spoken languages.
Richey says that Gravity Jack is looking to solve this problem through its upcoming augmented reality game, War Tribe of Binyamin, which is slated to enter its beta testing phase in Spring 2024. The game, which is playable on mobile devices and AR glasses, combines a number of gaming techniques and genres to provide a fun experience for all age groups, while simultaneously economically uplifting people in poverty and tapping a new market.
The lore of the game involves a millennia-spanning war between two opposing artificial intelligences – the malevolent Aizazel and the benevolent Yamin. Players are part of a faction called Binyamin (Sons of Yamin) who fight against Aizazel to save humanity from being taken over by the machines.
War Tribe of Binyamin uses Gravity Jack’s patented technology for high-resolution location determination without the use of GPS, which will allow the game to dynamically overlay player avatars and information over their own bodies or bodies of other players – a capability that sets Gravity Jack apart from competitors.
Gravity Jack created what it calls the Yamin Uplift Engine solution, which is a plan to reach every global language in a five-year span. Yamin Uplift Engine will harness the revenue from gamers in strong economies, with an estimated average monthly spend of $76 per player (in the US). It will then distribute a large portion of in-game revenue from in-app purchases, into a treasury that automatically pays 10% into a dividend to shareholders, while 55% goes to fund translation of important textual works, such as classic novels, religious texts, and scientific information, into less-used languages. The remaining 35% will be for the game's development and upkeep costs.
The translation works through a system of geo-targeted in-game translation quests. For example, a player in Ethiopia would receive a quest requiring Oromo language translation. By performing these quests, players can receive in-game currency, which can be exchanged into real-world currency through a controlled exchange system. According to Gravity Jack, all translation work will be performed by natives of the language using the game, and it includes a five-fold verification process to ensure valid translation. The information gathered through the quests will be used to create an NLP engine to accurately translate into that language.
Over time, Gravity Jack aims to build up adequate datasets for machine learning natural language processing engines for the 7,100 other languages, a feat that's otherwise would not be economically viable.
“We've been in the AR space since the technology's infancy, and we're bringing our extensive expertise to create a game that will demonstrate the full capabilities of augmented reality through an immersive gaming environment. Through our Yamin Uplift Engine, we are creating a way to translate knowledge into languages that the tech giants ignore, as well as providing economic incentives for people in low-income economies,” Richey says.
Media contact:
Name: Luke Richey
Email: [email protected]
