The Japanese technology firm NEC is currently making efforts to create a pair of “smart spectacles” that are capable of showing its wearer real-time “subtitles” of translated speech.

Dubbed the “Tele Scouter“, it resembles a pair of glasses, except without the lenses. Mounted on the frame is a small headset that projects translated text directly on the user’s retina, effectively allowing the user to “see” translated text as subtitles in real-time. This means that the user can satisfactorily maintain a conversation without having to consult a dictionary and/or another human translator.

NEC spokespeople said that the Tele Scouter, with the aid of a microphone on the headset, would be able to pick up the speech of both sides of a conversation, run it through voice-to-text software and a translator, all in the time it takes for a person to actually shoot a reply back.

“You can keep the conversation flowing,” according to NEC spokesman Takayuki Omino in a dialogue with AFP.

NEC says that the Tele Scouter would initially be available in Japan in November of 2010, but without the translation feature. The translation-capable units is scheduled to be available by 2011. NEC forecasts that the units would be sold at about $83,150 per batch of 30 pieces.