Metaverse and translation studies: analysis of machine translation

Although translation is fundamental, in collaboration with artificial intelligence, for the development and success of interaction and communication in the metaverse, little attention has been devoted to the direct influence of linguistic communication in three-dimensional space. Therefore, in this paper we have analyzed different research focused on the metaverse, coming from various disciplines, which have used the machine translation service. The aim is to know the perceptions about its use and quality, and thus understand what potential it would have in virtual reality and the challenges it poses. Documents were retrieved from the SciELO, Google Scholar and Dialnet databases, and those studies that have directly or indirectly used the automatic translation tool to favor communication and interaction between users were included. The results show a generally positive perception on the part of the studies analyzed, although the imprecision of the automatic translation engines and the lack of linguistic combinations are qualified. Finally, the importance of studying communication in the metaverse, opening up the number of available languages and research on the training of translation engines is highlighted, as the revenue of the machine translation market is bound to increase in the coming years due to the pace of production and the productivity offered.