The Star Trek universal translator is pretty much here in our labs with our speech technology.

FORBES: Executive Profiles: Disruptive Tech Leaders In Social Business -- Charlie Isaacs, Alcatel-Lucent

At the same time, these translation glasses show how rapidly we are advancing toward an actual universal translator.

FORBES: Real-Time Language Translation With UK Developer's Own Google-esque Augmented Reality Glasses

This admission is no surprise to linguists, who see myriad stumbling blocks on the road to a computerized universal translator.

CNN: 'Star Trek' translators reach for the final frontier

Perhaps one day, a glove like this could be part of a universal translator, which is something that will continue to be pursued as mobile computing, speech recognition, and translation advance.

FORBES: Smart Gloves Turn Sign Language Gestures Into Vocalized Speech