Theatre performances available in eight languages

A new device which enables theatergoers to read live captions of a performance in eight different languages has launched.

AirScript’s developers, Cambridge Consultants, hope the handsets will attract more tourists to theatres.

The captions, received over wifi, scroll throughout live performances.

The handsets have LED backlighting with a black background and orange text to minimize glare.They have a battery life of up to six hours.

The Shaftesbury Theatre in London is the first to offer the Airscript handsets.Audiences pay £6 to hire the device during a performance of its current production, Hairspray.

The script appears in real time in a choice of English, French, German, Italian ,Spanish, Russian, Japanese or Chinese.The translations have been made by translators rather than translation software.

David Bradshaw, group leader of the Software Technology Group at Cambridge Consultant said that the etiquette of the AirScript had been an important factor in its development.

“Theatres are not typically welcoming of technology in the auditorium, he told BBC News.

“Our biggest challenge was to get a screen into a theatre that wouldn’t distract the rest of the audience.”