4th pilot project in Mühlhausen: real-time translation for multilingual city tours

As part of our fourth pilot project, we travelled to Mühlhausen, one of the most historic towns in Thuringia. The town impresses with its medieval charm and attracts visitors from all over the world. This made Mühlhausen the ideal backdrop to test our real-time translation feature and create the basis for multilingual city tours.

Nancy Krug, Head of Marketing at the Mühlhausen Tourist Information Centre, applied for this pilot project. With the support of tour guide René and a group of tourists, we were able to test our technology under real-life conditions. The public tour, which lasted around 1.5 hours, took us through the highlights of the old town - including the almost completely preserved town wall, eleven medieval churches, the historic town hall and winding alleyways with half-timbered houses.

While René gave the tour in German, the participants received translations in their native language directly on their smartphones. These included Italian, English and Romanian. No additional app download or registration was required - a simple QR code was enough.

How real-time translation solves the challenges of multilingual communication

Our pilot 4th project in Mühlhausen not only served to test the technical possibilities of our real-time translation, but also to solve key pain points in multilingual city tours. Many tourist offers struggle with similar challenges:

• Language barriers: International visitors are often unable to participate in traditional guided tours because they do not understand the language of the guide. This leads to frustration and reduces the attractiveness of such offers.
• High costs for multilingualism: Traditionally, several guides or technical equipment such as audio devices are required to offer multilingual tours - a costly and time-consuming solution.
• Limited efficiency: Guides who have to repeat content in multiple languages lose dynamism and flexibility, which affects the overall experience.

Our real-time translation provides a remedy here: tour guides can concentrate fully on their explanations without having to plan for language changes. At the same time, the participants receive the content in their preferred language.

René was delighted with how easy it was to integrate the technology into his process. Despite minor technical challenges - such as occasional disconnections - the test confirmed that real-time translation can provide real added value for multilingual city tours.

Added value for Mühlhausen and city marketing

A feature such as real-time translation not only opens up new possibilities for guided tours, but also for Mühlhausen's city marketing. The town benefits on several levels:

• Increased attractiveness for international guests: multilingual guided tours appeal to a wider audience and make the city more accessible to travellers from abroad.
• Strengthening the modern image: The use of innovative technology such as real-time translation shows that Mühlhausen can combine tradition and innovation.
• Additional sources of revenue: Attracting new target groups could increase the number of bookings for city tours and other tourist offers, which would strengthen the local economy in the long term.

City marketing could use the introduction of such a feature as an effective PR tool. The combination of medieval flair and state-of-the-art technology attracts attention and sets it apart from other tourist destinations in the region.

Conclusion: More potential through real-time translation

Our 3rd pilot project in Mühlhausen has once again shown the potential of real-time translation for multilingual city tours. The solution not only solves language barriers, but also creates an inclusive experience for all participants.

The collaboration with Nancy Krug and her team as well as tour guide René was a great success for us, as we were able to test it live ‘on the customer’. Such real-life tests are essential in order to further develop the technology and optimally adapt it to the needs of tourists and tour guides.

With each further deployment, we get closer to our goal: communication without borders - no matter what language someone speaks or where they come from.