Carnegie Mellon University and German scientists unveiled technology on Thursday that makes it possible to speak one language, yet be understood in another.

In a demonstration, sensors captured electrical signals from facial muscles; a computer recognized the words, translated them, displayed them on a screen, and spoke them in both languages.

“Translation goggles” also displayed the translated words on a miniature virtual screen on eyeglasses. And small ultrasound speakers delivered a narrow beam of sound in a foreign language to one person, while others nearby heard the same words in the language they were spoken.