Localization Archives - Página 2 de 5

21/03/2023

How to Build an Effective Global L&D Training Program

Posted on 21 marzo, 2023 | by Jacqueline De Marco | Leave a Comment

Many global businesses adopt an English-first approach to learning and development (L&D) training for their employees. Whilst English is a widely understood language, it’s important for businesses with a global workforce to remember that a strong understanding of the English language is not a guarantee for every single worker they employ.

Understandably, creating L&D materials in English is a popular choice for global organizations that feel they neither have the budget nor time for translations, but assuming people understand English is one thing and assuming they understand the cultural differences is another. The clash is inevitable.

While you’re likely to start with an English training program, there are a few things you can take into consideration and do in the development stage in order to make its localization easier and more cost-effective.

Choose Function over Form

Everyone loves a beautiful design, but when it comes to creating effective L&D training materials, the function must take priority over form. This is especially true when creating L&D content that requires localization. For example, adding animations can be visually appealing and add a fun flair to the L&D experience. However, when you have to localize complex design elements repeatedly, you may find those extra special touches don’t justify the cost of localization. Before choosing design elements, think about how they will affect your localization needs and if they provide enough value to justify localization.

Choose Your Layout Wisely

When you translate written content, this can affect the visuals of your L&D content greatly as other languages can take up much more or less space than written English text after translation. More often than not, other languages take up more space than English text. When choosing your initial layout, it helps to be strategic knowing that your space needs may change. Leaving a decent amount of white space in your original design can make a huge difference. While you can request that the localization specialist keep their new text concise and your designers can shrink the size of the text a bit, having more white space available to add expansive text can give you some much-needed breathing room.

Make the Choice Between Subtitles and Voice-Over

In an ideal world, you would localize all voice-over and subtitle content in your L&D materials, but this cannot be easy to pull off budget-wise as you would need to not only translate the subtitles and voice-over scripts, but hire a new narrator and record new audio content in all target languages. You may find that you need to choose between localization with just subtitles, voice-over, or dubbing to accommodate your budget. Think carefully about which format will best highlight your training materials.

Be Patient

The localization process is one that is best not to rush. To start, it can be helpful to wait until your source content is complete to provide the localization specialist with editable files. This will not only save you time, but money.

It’s also a good idea to coordinate timelines with your localization partner to ensure that the turnaround is viable and won’t require compromising quality to get the job done on time. Your localization partner will be able to advise which steps are needed to complete the project correctly and how long it should take.

The Takeaway

How can you make it easier to incorporate all of these tips into your L&D plans? Don’t leave planning the localization step for the end. If you keep localization needs in mind from day one, you’ll save money, time, and a headache.

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14/03/2023

What is a Localization Kit and Why Is It Useful?

Posted on 14 marzo, 2023 | by Jacqueline De Marco | Leave a Comment

By 2022, it’s projected that more than half of worldwide internet users’ primary language will be a language other than English. In today’s extremely global world, companies who want to expand their reach and compete in global markets need to localize their products. To effectively localize a product, a localization kit can be the first step toward success. Both the client and the localization team will benefit from a well-rounded localization kit which will make the entire process more seamless from the beginning. Keep reading to learn what a localization kit is, what it contains, why it matters, and who should prepare it.

What is a Localization Kit?

A localization kit is a set of files and documentation that makes it possible for an outside party to localize a product and it includes any materials required for localization.

Localization kits not only contain the materials needed to prepare a proposal (which includes a proposed cost and timeline) for localizing a product, but they also house any materials the localization partner needs to get the job done.

An effective localization kit will have everything the localization team requires to do a great job and should have clear documentation that outlines how they can use the contents of the localization kit.

What does a Localization Kit Contain?

Typically, localization kits contain the following assets:

Previous translations and their originals in order to ensure consistency across glossaries and to make project management easier.
The client’s preferred method of the directory structure, delivery method and dates, and any file naming conventions.
A monolingual glossary that clarifies any technical, trademarked, or abbreviated concepts.
The client’s language list which focuses on the target country’s language and regional dialects.
A contact list that makes it possible for localization vendors to quickly identify which parties are responsible for all areas of the project.
Information pertaining to the purpose, function and vision of the product.
Potentially a translation memory (TM) and an assessment of the current quality of the TM. That is, whether it should be followed strictly, or if it shouldn’t be trusted blindly.
References like screenshots and video demos.

Why are Localization Kits So Important?

Localization kits benefit all parties involved in a localization project. The client will enjoy a faster turnaround and higher quality work and the localization team will have all the resources they need to do their job well—without having to ask the client unnecessary questions.

Localization kits also help clarify the expectations of the client in an organized and efficient way which helps the client save time and money while avoiding unnecessary misunderstandings as all parties involved will be aware of the scope of the project, limitations, and expectations before getting started. A good localization kit also makes it possible to anticipate potential challenges and avoid them.

Who Should Prepare a Localization Kit?

The localization kit should be created by the client and provided to the localization vendor so they will have all the necessary files and details about the project they need to get started.

When a manager prepares a localization kit, their efforts can go a long way towards avoiding future roadblocks.

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21/02/2023

6 Skills Every Localization Project Manager Needs to Have

Posted on 21 febrero, 2023 | by Marisol Pérez Laglaive | Leave a Comment

An effective localization project manager is someone who has a unique skill set that combines planning, organization, people management, communication, and other valuable skills. This role often involves taking on the responsibility of getting localized products to market and the global success of the company can be greatly impacted by the outcome of localization efforts. It’s understandable that it takes a lot of experience to manage such a large responsibility.

The following skills are ones all strong localization project managers need in order to efficiently and effectively execute their responsibilities.

Planning

One way to meet deadlines and to keep the whole localization process moving along is to have strong planning skills. The better a localization project manager plans out a project from the get go, the more likely they are to oversee a smooth localization process. Taking the planning stage seriously can result in less stress for the localization team and better results for the clients. One thing all good localization project managers plan for is risk management, which involves managing intentionally and systematically the uncertainties that may occur during the course of a project.

Organization

To keep a good plan running as it should, organization is key. Localization project managers need to oversee a lot of details regarding linguistic, technical, cultural, and administrative choices. Keeping a localization team updated and on the same page, as well as coordinating work efforts with other departments, requires excellent organizational skills. Adopting tech resources like TMS and CAT tools can really come in handy here.

People Management

Localization project managers oversee a team and interact with many different departments within the client’s organization. There will also be times when the localization project manager needs to work with other localization specialists and their team which may include linguists, engineers, testers, and desktop publishers. Logistics can get extremely complicated on localization projects as many of the collaborators may be scattered across the globe, in different time zones and may be part of different cultures. All this adds to the challenge when it comes to managing people.

Being able to delegate, help solve conflicts, and generally interact well with both internal and external collaborators is important.

Communication

Speaking of working well with others, knowing how to communicate properly can be really helpful when working as a localization project manager. Being able to communicate clearly and concisely is ideal, especially when defining project protocols, deliverables, and deadlines. The last thing you want is for a misunderstanding or a lack of communication to derail a localization project. This is especially important considering localization project managers frequently speak English while interacting with people around the world whose mother tongue is other than English. Making sure everything is absolutely clear and understood is vital.

Technologically Savvy

Localization projects can involve emerging and cutting-edge technologies that may be new to the localization team, which can lead to quite a learning curve. Being technologically savvy and willing to learn and adapt can make it easier to understand new technology that is the focus of your localization project. Identifying and selecting the technological tools that will help initiate a smooth workflow is an important part of what localization project managers do.

Flexibility

Last, but certainly not least, a localization project manager can benefit greatly from being flexible as localization projects tend to involve a great number of variables. It’s often necessary to shift priorities without much warning in order to redirect a localization project and to keep things moving along. Working out solutions quickly and creatively is something all localization project managers need to do from time to time and being flexible can be a very valuable asset.

The localization project manager is an extremely important player in a localization project. Localization project managers guide all parties involved in the project so that it goes smoothly from start to finish and its success is not compromised.

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14/02/2023

E-learning Elements That Require Localization

Posted on 14 febrero, 2023 | by Jacqueline De Marco | Leave a Comment

While e-learning has been rising in popularity for years thanks to how accessible, engaging, and cost-effective it is, it’s not a surprise that in recent years interest in e-learning has skyrocketed. Especially as a resource for companies looking to train their global workforce. Speaking of a global workforce—having an online course that is suitable for learners that speak different languages requires the localization of several elements within the course so that the whole learning experience is a smooth one.

These are some of the elements worth keeping in mind.

Mouse cursor movement captures

Most e-learning programs contain an instructional nature that include cursor movements. These movements may point to actions that the narrator is explaining. They play an important role and need to be taken into account during the localization process. This may seem odd since these are cursor movements not text, but the cursor movements need to properly time up with the accompanying narration and the timing may be off once the narration is localized into a new language.

Content and narrative translation and formatting

E-learning content includes on-screen text that has to be localized when you want the content to appear in a new target language. When you localize text, it often changes drastically in length which can require formatting changes to make the design of the program flow as intended. Similar to the cursor movement captures we discussed earlier, you also need to make sure the timing of audio content is lining up with any written content in the e-learning materials—as well as any subtitles. The timing of slides can also be impacted by the length of audio and visual text.

Subtitles and voice-over recordings

How large a budget for a localization project is will determine whether or not you need to localize voice-over recording and subtitles or just subtitles—which is a more cost-effective option as you don’t have to hire a narrator and record new audio. That being said, this extra step does greatly enhance the quality of the end product and creates a better user experience for the person engaging with the e-learning product.

Graphics

On-screen graphics in e-learning courses and training materials can contain text. If the text is embedded into the graphic, that text will need to be translated in an external file and then the original graphic can be localized into the target language with the help of a graphic designer or DTP specialist.

Navigation and action buttons

Because e-learning content often incorporates navigational and action-related buttons that contain text (such as “next” or “submit”), these buttons require localization. If you fail to localize this important type of content, the user can end up confused and frustrated and not able to proceed with their learning opportunity. Authoring tools usually allow the creators to set up the UI language. By selecting the desired language, you can have localized buttons. However, it’s important to remember to do so. If the tool doesn’t allow it, then you can include this in the content that needs to be localized. There can be cases in which the instructional designer creates their own buttons. Depending on how these buttons are created, they may require separate localization as well.

The takeaway

It’s advisable to work with a localization partner who has experience with e-learning content and that has the capacity to work on each of these elements (since they require different professionals such as localization project managers, translators, DTP specialists, voice-over actors, and subtitlers). If they can provide a comprehensive solution, the end result has a high chance of being pretty seamless.

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31/01/2023

Localization Management: Browser-Based Translations Tools

Posted on 31 enero, 2023 | by Jacqueline De Marco | Leave a Comment

Moving translation management tools into the cloud seems like an inevitable call for IT development in localization. Browser-based solutions offer ease of use, lower prices, accessibility (sometimes even from mobile devices), and versatility. All of this while providing the basic functionalities of Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT) tools, like translation memories (TM), terminology management, translation management for project managers (PMs), reporting and statistics, and quality assurance (QA) tools.

There are a lot of browser-based options in the market. Some offer comprehensive solutions for translation and localization workflows, while others specialize in supporting product development teams or website and app localization, like Transifex or Lokalise. Here we’ll offer insight on four of the most popular web-based tools: Memsource, Smartling, Smartcat, and XTM.

Localization from the Browser: Smartling and Smartcat

Smartling and Smartcat are entirely browser-based solutions. On the one hand, Smartling’s strength is website localization, since it offers an in-context preview and in-context translation and review mode. With these features, linguists can check how text displays on web pages. In addition, users don’t need a license to work on the platform, so it’s ideal for managing projects with freelance translators and multiple providers. However, it needs an optimal configuration in order to properly detect new content to translate, which is pushed automatically for translation. This issue may cause redundant costs and idle work.

On the other hand, Smartcat offers a browser-based comprehensive CAT tool, with TMs, term bases (TB) and QA features, as Smartling does too. But Smartcat’s distinctive added value is its marketplace, which offers the possibility to connect with available freelancers and automate payments. It also offers a built-in OCR solution to digitize non-editable documents.

Exhaustive Online Translation Management: Memsource and XTM

Memsource is an exhaustive translation management system and CAT tool with a lightweight editor and portal. It offers the core functions (TMs, TBs, and quality management) and a preview mode for some formats, like Word documents. Its salient feature may be its mobile and desktop integration, with a mobile app and editor for translators and for project managers. Additionally, it has a very user-friendly user interface (UI) that makes the software intuitive for both vendors and managers. Memsource allows exporting MXLIFF files, a native file of the software, that integrates with Memsource Editor, the desktop app. However, this file is not supported by Trados or memoQ, so linguists need to install plugins or extensions.

On another note, XTM is a robust online translation management system that enables language service providers to organize simple and more complex workflows. From this perspective, it offers reporting features, progress and time tracking options, a mobile app for PMs, and automation rules for workflow management. From a vendors’ point of view, one disadvantage may be that its slow performance depends on the quality of the internet connection, but it has the advantage of saving progress in cache for restoring.

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Such variety and versatility within software solutions imply that there is always a best-suited tool for the types of projects and workflows linguists or Language Service Providers manage on a regular basis. Thorough research on the options and the support of your localization partner will always help make the best-informed choice available for your needs.

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03/01/2023

What Is Continuous Localization And Why Is It Beneficial?

Posted on 3 enero, 2023 | by Jacqueline De Marco | Leave a Comment

Most major companies have their eyes set on global expansion these days and who can blame them? Expanding their reach to new locales can help their business thrive by exposing them to new audiences. To excel at expanding into new markets, the localization of products and content is necessary. That being said, localization is a major undertaking that can be very complex and time-consuming. This is where continuous localization comes in.

Incorporating continuous localization into their workflow can help localization teams work faster, communicate better, and make less mistakes.

Keep reading for more insight into what continuous localization is and what the benefits are.

What Is Continuous Localization?

Continuous localization is a type of translation workflow. With this specific workflow, you integrate translation workflows into the agile software development process.

Under continuous localization, the translation team localizes the content in small batches which makes continuous integration easier. The localization manager and the translation team will have visibility into the development process during continuous localization. Because of this they are then able to easily discuss any translation issues that arise with developers. This allows the localization process to happen in lockstep with the development cycle.

Throughout continuous localization, developers are encouraged to exchange ideas with the localization team—which they are able to do because continuous localization makes them more aware of localization issues and makes it possible for them to take the proactive steps necessary to minimize risks.

What are the Benefits of Continuous Localization?

Overall, the streamlined workflows between translation and development teams that occur because of continuous localization can lead to a lot less frustration for the team, less reworks, a higher quality final product, and a faster delivery. Let’s look at a few advantages associated with continuous localization.

Simultaneous release. Continuous localization makes it possible for development teams to work on products for different locales and in different languages at the same time. Working parallel can speed up the multilingual development process and can shorten time to market, which is especially helpful if a business wants to launch a product simultaneously in multiple countries.
Seamless collaboration. The localization team is able to work closely with developers to better understand the constraints of the user interface. This makes it easier to ask questions about the context and create accurate and high-quality translations while avoiding reworks.
Shorter development cycles. Because continuous localization can make workflow faster by leading to less back-and-forth between developers and the localization team, it’s more obtainable to stay focused and on track which leads to shorter development cycles.

How Is Continuous Localization Relevant Today?

To thrive in today’s increasingly global society, companies need to expand their global reach while balancing scaling needs. Trying to launch their products in multiple new markets leads to a lot of localization needs and can create a major bottleneck problem.

High quality localization is a time-consuming process and is quite complex. Introducing continuous localization into their localization process can make it easier for their team to communicate, to streamline their workflow, and to complete projects faster and with fewer errors made.

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20/12/2022

4 Tips to Localize Your Mobile App into Brazilian Portuguese

Posted on 20 diciembre, 2022 | by Jacqueline De Marco | Leave a Comment

Mobile apps are very popular in Brazil and the most popular apps in this country are those relating to social media, entertainment, and social networking. There’s a lot of potential app users in Brazil that app creators should try to appeal to. For those interested in localizing their apps for this market, this is what they need to know.

Take String Length Into Account

When translating text from English, Brazilian Portuguese requires 25% to 30% more space, so it’s very important to take string length into account. This means it takes more time for users to read any text dialogue or subtitles features in an app, so it’s essential to keep this length difference in mind during the development process. It’s also vital not to forget to use a font that supports the full library of Portuguese punctuation and accents, as not including the proper characters can change the meaning of a word and cause comprehension issues.

Remember the Differences Between Brazilian and European Portuguese

If you think you can localize your app once to cover all Portuguese speaking users, think again. There are major differences between Brazilian Portuguese and European Portuguese that must be recognized. Spelling, pronunciation, and the meaning of words can differ between these two variants. For example, in Brazil, a bathroom is referred to as a “banheiro”, but in Portugal it is called a “sala de banhos”. Most Brazilians reject European Portuguese, so if you want to appeal to the Brazilian market, you need to localize to their specific variant.

Localize Metrics

Speaking of localization, language is not the only element that must be adapted. Metrics such as units of measure, temperatures (ºC vs ºF), distance, weight, currency, and how dates are formatted can differ greatly across different languages.

When it comes to Brazilian Portuguese, you’ll want to use the following metrics.

24h clock format
DD/MM/YYYY date format
Brazilian Real (R$) instead of the American Dollar ($)

Don’t Forget About Culturalization

When it comes to making a mobile app successful in a new market, you need to keep more than just the local language in mind. Translating the language of an app is a great start, but to really thrive you need to keep culture in mind. This is where culturalization comes in. If your app includes cultural elements (such as film, religious, or historical references), adapt those to the target market. When it comes to seasonal events, you need to consider the season it is in the hemisphere the target market is located in, not what season it is where you’re located.

There are apps for literally everything, so depending on what your app does, be mindful of sensitive topics such as politics and religion. Hiring a translation partner who has a deep knowledge of the culture you’ll be translating into will help ensure you don’t accidentally cause offense or isolate your new target market.

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06/12/2022

Transitioning Teachers in the US Look at New Career Paths in Instructional Design

Posted on 6 diciembre, 2022 | by Jacqueline De Marco | Leave a Comment

Post-pandemic burnout is affecting many professionals, but teachers who had to face especially difficult workplace challenges over the past few years are particularly struggling with burnout. Many teachers that are choosing to veer away from their original career path are heading towards the instructional design industry, as it allows them to leverage their backgrounds in education while giving them the opportunity to work remotely instead of in a classroom. They can put their classroom-honed instructional design skills into the creation of eLearning content.

Instructional design involves creating learning experiences and materials resulting in the acquisition and application of knowledge and skills. Even though instructional design encompasses all learning materials, it’s most frequently associated with corporate training and eLearning for universities or other educational institutions.

Let’s look at some tips that teachers can use to find a job in instructional design and to thrive in that role.

Highlight Adaptable Skills

Transitioning teachers are facing the challenge of adapting the skills they gained in classrooms into ones they can utilize in a new career in the learning and development (L&D) space. How they frame their skills during their job search can help them illustrate to potential employers just how adaptable their teaching skills are.

For example, teachers have experience trying different teaching approaches in order to see what works for their students and what doesn’t. They know how to adapt their content to suit “their audience”. They have also seen firsthand the challenge of having students in their classrooms who don’t speak English as their native language. In 2019, 10.4% of K-12 students were English-language learners (ELL) students and by 2025, an estimated 25% percent of public school students will be ELL students.

Expand Their Network

As teachers look for new horizons, it’s key that they find networking spaces that can help them enter the L&D space successfully. There are multiple non-profit organizations, like GLDC (Global Learning & Development Community), that offer resources and create an environment where they can connect with other professionals in the industry and can get career advice.

Mariana Horrisberger, eLearning localization specialist and business development manager at Terra, is one of the organizers of GLDC. She co-leads meetups every Wednesday and Friday, where they get together to meet peers from the industry, discuss L&D topics, and share their knowledge and experience with those making their first steps into this field. They also currently have a Project Club led by Russell Sweep, where they discuss the eLearning Heroes Challenge of the week and provide feedback to each other’s projects. In 2022, this organization hosted a Summer Break Room during the month of July to get transitioning teachers together to network and share information and advice about the industry. Another networking group that could be of interest is Teaching: A path to L&D led by Sara Stevick—where members share important information for teachers looking to transition to the eLearning industry.

Keep Localization In Mind

It’s essential that as teachers transition to this new space—and given the global aspect of the eLearning industry—they keep localization in mind. Meaning that while they work on creating courses, they remain aware of aspects of their work that could potentially present challenges during localization. Accessibility is a top priority nowadays, with students from all corners of the world trying to learn the abilities necessary to work and succeed in the modern world and being knowledgeable of internationalization is a skill that can help them land their first job in the industry.

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29/11/2022

How to Become Your Localization Team’s Hero

Posted on 29 noviembre, 2022 | by Jacqueline De Marco | Leave a Comment

A strong localization kit is made up of multiple elements that vary in accordance with the complexity of a particular project. In general, localization kits contain a translation memory, glossary, termbase, style guide, and reference materials. Having a well-built out localization kit is a great way to get a project headed in the right direction. That being said, there is much more you can do to help your localization team do their best work and to ensure they have a great experience working with you.

Let’s look at a few ways you can become your localization team’s hero!

Provide editable files

Your localization team will save a lot of time if you provide them with an editable file as a source file to kick off their translation. Having an editable file helps avoid file conversions, which can look rather unpolished. If you do have to pursue a file conversion because the editable file is unavailable, the localization team will need to create a polished final document and DTP will be necessary, which can extend the project timeline.

Determine the file extension you want to receive

If your localization team is aware of the type of file extension you want to receive, they’ll be able to choose the best translation tools for the specific project. Using the correct tool will help them prevent unnecessary exports and imports into different tools. If the content consists of loose strings of text, which is usually the case with software, then it’s important to organize it in a logical way that everyone on the team can understand.

Add comments to the files

Adding comments to the file can help translators make sense of content. For example, if a translator is working on translating a video game, they may need context surrounding a character’s gender. Leaving a comment indicating what the gender of each character is, is super important as in some languages, adjective choices are affected by gender. Leaving comments throughout the file that provide additional context can help your localization team make the best word choices.

Share a demo or beta version

When it comes to apps, video games, and software, sharing a demo or beta version can really help a translation team get a feel of the product. If you aren’t able to share an advanced copy of the product, perhaps you can share watermarked screenshots instead, so the team isn’t working blindly.

Stay on top of formatting

If you want the formatting of the target document to mirror the formatting in the original document, you need to share that desire with your localization team in advance so that they can allocate the correct amount of time and resources to formatting the target document properly.

Determine timeline expectations and be flexible

While your localization team will always do their best to meet your desired deadline, be open to being flexible on your deadline if it helps the team avoid rushing and allow them to assess the project and confirm if the amount of time needed in order to provide a high-quality deliverable is in line with your expectations.

Be available and ready to answer questions

Your team will need to be able to come to you with questions in order to create the best possible final product. You don’t need to be available to answer questions 24/7, but you should make it clear how and when they can get in touch with you if they have questions. To help answer any major questions they may have, you can establish a query sheet as a way to streamline communication.

All of that being said, you’ll still need to be available to answer questions from time to time, so they can move forward with confidence.

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23/11/2022

VR & Localization: The Key to an Immersive Experience for Users Worldwide

Posted on 23 noviembre, 2022 | by Jacqueline De Marco | Leave a Comment

Virtual reality (VR) refers to a simulated experience that can either be totally different or very similar to the real world. It is achieved by creating a sensory environment using primarily sight and sound to create an interactive and immersive experience. VR is rising in popularity day by day and by 2025, the VR industry is expected to be worth more than $22 billion. One reason for this industry’s continued growth in popularity is due to VR’s endless potential to create experiences and immersive environments, as these headsets can make it easier to integrate games into education, entertainment, and many other endeavors.

Standard VR systems tend to rely on VR headsets in order to generate the realistic sensations that create the immersive environment that VR is known for. VR headsets generally include what is known as a head-mounted display (HMD). This HMD is a wraparound headset that blocks light and real-world images so the user can focus on the virtual world they are entering. During 2022, it’s anticipated that consumer AR/VR headset shipments will reach 13.24 million units.

It’s also expected that over time as improvements to VR hardware are made (such as designing smaller and more stylish headsets) and as they become more affordable, that interest in this industry will continue to grow. For example, a less cumbersome device may increase popularity in healthcare training such as training simulations for surgeons.

Let’s take a closer look at the applications and industries that VR can apply to, as well as why localization for VR is becoming a growing need.

Applications and Industries

These are some of the industries that are embracing VR:

Entertainment. VR is especially common in the gaming sector as VR can create an exceptional game experience for players who want to immerse themselves in the world the game takes place in.
Training. The learning and development possibilities of VR are nearly endless—especially for providing a more hands-on corporate training experience.
Tourism. Imagine being able to make someone feel like they are visiting your city and encourage them to visit by introducing them to your most exciting sites virtually.
Well-being. A more immersive wellness experience can be found when you combine VR with apps that help guide meditation, workouts, mindfulness, and relaxation.
E-learning. Many students engage with their learning materials and retain them better when using VR during the e-learning experience.

VR Localization

The fact that more industries are adopting VR and with headsets becoming more affordable, it is natural for this technology to reach new markets and people that speak different languages. This is where localization comes in.

When someone is engaging with an immersive experience, you don’t want them to become confused by language or prompts they don’t understand. Localization makes it possible to translate elements like prompts, buttons, in-app menus and messages, narration or voice-over cues in the app the consumer uses. Anything that requires interaction on the part of the user needs to be easily understood by them or else you risk your message not coming across clearly, or the user not being able to properly navigate the experience—all of which can lead to the user leaving a bad review of the app. Content in the app store also needs to be localized, as the app store description helps them select and decide to purchase the app. Making sure this text is in a language the user understands can make a difference in the total number of downloads.

As VR adoption continues to expand and more industries realize the potential it has, it’s only a matter of time before the localization needs in the industry also increase. This is key to ensure access to this technology and its applications are not restricted to English speakers only, making these virtual worlds into more inclusive and diverse spaces.

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