AI-powered tool helps intl students unlock Chinese martial art

When Jerome Lepeu from France steps onto the floor for his tai chi lesson in Beijing on a Saturday afternoon, he is learning more than a sequence of slow, flowing movements. Lepeu, 64, is also learning a new "language" — the terminology of tai chi — that can be difficult to grasp even when spoken in his mother tongue.

Some of his instructor's explanations are abstract, as she describes how to direct force through the body, where to place one's weight and how to coordinate movement with breathing. For a foreign student unfamiliar with the terminology, understanding what lies behind each gesture can be as challenging as performing it.

But Lepeu has found an unexpected aid: a pair of translation earbuds.

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He began studying tai chi about a year ago, and his instructor, Wang Jingyun, provided him with the earbuds to help him follow her lessons.

As Wang explains the principles behind a movement in Chinese, the earbuds translate her words into a language he understands, allowing him to focus on both the physical movements and their underlying meaning.

"Many of the descriptions in tai chi are quite abstract. It's not always easy to understand what the teacher means just by watching the movements," Lepeu said. "With the translation earbuds, I can understand how to apply force and what each movement is actually about."

For him, the technology has made a noticeable difference. Instead of relying solely on imitation, he can better understand the reasoning behind the movements, an important part of learning an art form whose physical techniques and philosophical ideas are closely intertwined.

Wang, who has more than 30 years of experience studying and teaching tai chi, has also noticed how translation technology is changing the way she works with international students.

She has taught a number of learners from overseas, many of whom use translation earbuds to follow her instructions. The devices have made communication more efficient, helping students grasp explanations that might otherwise require repeated demonstrations or lengthy attempts to clarify through gestures.

"Tai chi involves a lot of explanations about how the body moves and how force is generated. Some concepts are difficult to convey through movements alone," Wang said. "With the earbuds, students can understand what I'm saying more directly, which makes teaching and learning much easier."

The experience in Wang's classroom reflects a growing overseas market for AI-powered translation earbuds, many of which are developed and sold by Chinese startups.

On TikTok, short videos promoting the devices have attracted attention by highlighting familiar situations in which language barriers can cause awkwardness or inconvenience.

In one popular advertising scenario, a customer in the United States visits a nail salon where the technician is a Vietnamese immigrant. Wearing translation earbuds, the customer can finally follow the technician's conversation. Other videos show taxi drivers using the devices to communicate with passengers from different countries.

For Chinese entrepreneurs, the appeal lies partly in combining relatively affordable hardware with increasingly accessible AI translation services. Rather than carrying a separate translation device or repeatedly checking a smartphone, users can wear the earbuds and communicate more naturally while going about daily activities.

"We're only at the beginning of this market," said Zhang Zejie, founder of Shanghai-based NebulaBuds, an AI-powered software platform that enables ordinary Bluetooth earbuds to offer real-time translation and other intelligent features. This has helped Chinese manufacturers tap into growing overseas demand for AI audio devices.

Zhang said the global translation earbud market currently ships around 1.5 million units a month, adding that it still has considerable room to expand, potentially growing fivefold to tenfold.

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"Translation earbuds can remain relevant over the next five to 10 years, with their portability, improving technology and growing demand for cross-cultural communication," he said. "As more people travel, study and work overseas, the need to communicate across language barriers will continue to grow, creating new opportunities for the industry."

Translation earbuds are designed primarily for everyday conversations, such as ordering food, asking for directions, taking taxis or shopping, making them potentially useful for tourists traveling abroad or foreign visitors in China.

"However, the technology still has limitations. Background noise, accents, rapid speech and overlapping conversations can affect accuracy, while idioms and specialized terminology remain difficult to translate reliably," Zhang said.

"Improving translation accuracy and making conversations more natural are still important areas of development," he added.

Contact the writers at chennan@chinadaily.com.cn