Live captions
on your phone
Announcements, commentary and talks at the venue, captioned as they happen and translated into your language.
Live captions on your phone
What you see at a station, a stadium or any venue that captions with XRAI: open the captions on your phone with nothing to install, choose a language, listen, and make the words easy to read.
Three ways to follow along
Follow the captions in a phone browser, in the XRAI app or on smart glasses. None of them needs an account, and all are free to visitors.
A phone browser
Scan the QR code on the venue's signs or screens, or open the link the venue shares. The captions open in the browser, with nothing to install.
- Needs
- Any internet connection
- Languages
- The ones the venue offers
- Listening
- When the venue turns on spoken translation
The XRAI app
Finds streams on the venue's own network, or opens the one in the venue's link. The app can also translate into a language the venue doesn't offer.
- Needs
- The app, and the venue network or a link
- Languages
- The venue’s, and any other language, translated on the phone
- Cost
- Free for the venue's languages
Smart glasses
Captions in the lenses, through the XRAI app on a paired phone. Join the stream in the app and the glasses show it.
- Needs
- XRAI glasses and the app
- Languages
- As in the app
- Best for
- Keeping your eyes on what's around you
Free for visitors
The venue pays for the captions. In the app, the cost chip reads Free while following a stream, unless the visitor chooses a language the stream doesn’t carry, which their phone then translates.
Each phone is separate
The language each person chooses changes only their own screen.
Opening the stream on a phone
Scan the venue’s QR code with the phone’s camera to open the captions in the browser.
- Point the phone's camera at the codeThe phone’s camera app reads it; no other app is needed.
- Tap the link that appearsThe viewer opens in the browser, with the venue's stream name and picture at the top.
- Choose a languageThe language panel opens automatically when the stream offers more than one language.
- Read alongNew lines arrive at the bottom of the screen, with the speaker's name under each block.
Nothing on screen yet?
The page is empty until someone speaks; at a station, until the next announcement. If the venue has turned on catch-up, the last few lines appear straight away.
1
2
3
4
- The venue's stream
- Default: as the venue sends it
- More: open it in the app
- Languages, any time
Choosing a language
Choose one of the languages the venue offers. The captions and the page’s own labels switch to it.
- Default
- The captions as the venue sends them, usually in the language being spoken.
- A language
- One tile for each language the venue offers. The page's own buttons and labels change with it.
- More
- For any other language: opens the stream in the XRAI app, which translates on the phone.
Lines already on screen stay in the language they arrived in; everything after the switch comes in the new one. To change again, tap the translate button at the bottom left.
The venue decides the list
The tiles are the languages the venue has chosen to broadcast. If a language is missing, ask a member of staff or use More.
Listening
Hear the translation spoken aloud, when the venue has turned spoken translation on.
- Tap the speakerThe chosen language is spoken aloud. Tap again to stop. With no speaker button, the venue has not turned spoken translation on.
- Adjust the soundWhile it plays, the speaker opens a small panel: volume, mute, a pop-out player, and the radio player.
- Listen with the screen lockedOpen in radio player hands the sound to the phone’s own player, so it continues with the screen locked.
- Hear the original as wellWhile a translation is being spoken, tap the flag beside the speaker to hear the original underneath it.
Headphones, one ear free
Spoken translation is easiest on headphones. With one ear free, you still hear what is going on around you.
1
2
3
4
- Languages
- The language heard
- Speaker
- Settings
1
2
3
4
- Volume
- Mute
- Pop out
- Radio player
Making it easy to read
Change the text, colours and layout on your own phone with the settings button.
- General
- Speaker identification shows who is speaking under each block. Minimal interface hides the bars so the captions get the whole screen.
- Colors
- Light, dark or the phone’s setting, and a choice of colours.
- Text
- Spacing between words, letters, lines and paragraphs; weight; alignment; how wide the text runs; and where the captions sit on screen.
Settings are per phone
These settings change only the phone they are set on. Nothing here affects the venue's screens or anyone else's phone.
Using the XRAI app
Follow the stream in the XRAI app, on glasses, or in a language the venue doesn’t offer.
On the venue's network
- Join the venue Wi-FiThe stream is sent on the local network. Guest Wi-Fi that isolates devices won’t show it.
- Turn on DiscoverIn the account menu. On an iPhone or a Mac, allow Local Network access when asked, or nothing is found.
- Press Join, then pick a languageA card appears with the stream's name, picture and the flags of its languages.
From a link or the browser
Choose More in the browser viewer, or open the venue's app link, then press Join Stream. The app opens on the same stream.
Free, with the microphone off
While following a stream, the cost chip reads Free and the phone's microphone is off. A language the venue doesn't carry is translated on the phone, using its own minutes.
