Board Thread:Fun and Games/@comment-3155949-20130924042049/@comment-1743498-20131029015113

The translation device works by analyzing sentence structure and word formation patterns based on how the sound is produced. It must take into account all sorts of things including audio, vibration and visual patterns.

Basically, the device uses sound symbolism to its advantage, operating on the concept that words in a natural language are not produced arbitrarily - theoretically, with sufficiently advanced technology, in a short amount of time you could estimate what a word in a language might sound like without having heard it.

Of course, this is not totally foolproof, as it doesn't take into account unique cultural elements.