Upcoming Icon & Thumbnail Translation Experiment

[hydr0h0mie]

[Update] August 6, 2024

@hydr0h0mie

Hi Creators,

Some of you have been asking why this isn’t an experience setting. Because the images that have been generated are solely for this two-week experiment, we are using a form to determine which images should be removed from the experiment. Because the icon/thumbnail translation feature is still being tested, we are not making this a setting in Creator Hub yet.

Once the experiment is over, we plan to launch icon/thumbnail translation fully. This will include a setting in Creator Hub that you can use to turn the feature on/off, an interface in Translator Portal to edit the translations, and a place to give feedback on incorrect translations.

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Hey Devs!

We are always looking for ways to help you better engage users and grow your audience. We provide Roblox-generated translations for experience names and descriptions, which has resulted in an increase in click-through rate and number of plays. Another key way to capture a user’s attention is with your experience’s icons and thumbnails. This is why, in the next few weeks, we will be running an experiment translating icon and thumbnail text that appears on the Home, Discover, Search, and Experience Details pages.

Experiment Logistics

For a two-week period, a small percentage of users will see icons and thumbnails translated into their supported language (French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish). The goal of this experiment is to see if international users are more likely to try your experience if the associated imagery is translated.

You can preview the generated images in Creator Hub by going to Creations > Development Items > Images. These images are only visible to you right now, so players will not see them.

If you have already provided manual translations for your icons and thumbnails, you may still see translated image previews in Creator Hub. However, they will not be used during the experiment - we will not override any existing translations that you have provided. We will only use the generated images if there are no existing icon/thumbnail translations for your experience.

Note that not all experiences will be part of the experiment. Additionally, some image translations may be automatically discarded upon creation because they do not meet our internal quality metrics. If you do not see translated images in your account, or if translations are missing for some images or languages, this may be why.

Feedback on Translated Images

If you do not want to show translated images to players, you can let us know by filling out this form and providing us the Universe ID of your experience. Your Universe ID can be copied in Creator Dashboard, via the three-dot menu in the upper right corner of your experience tile.

During the experiment, we will not use any automatically translated images that belong to experiences that were submitted to the form. Starting from today, you will have two weeks to fill out the form. After two weeks, we will start running the experiment and translated images will be displayed to a small percentage of players for a two-week period.

As it will take us some time to process the Universe IDs, translated images will not be removed from Creator Dashboard immediately after you submit the form; however, they will all be removed by the start of the experiment.

Our Automatic Image Translation System

Our translation system is trained to ensure that the translated image matches the font style of the original image as closely as possible. This means the size, font, and color of translated text will remain very similar to the original text, and any non-text elements in the image will remain exactly the same. Some examples of translated images:

Indonesian

French

German

We will update you once the experiment has concluded. Please let us know if you have any questions.

FAQ

Why do I need to fill out a form to disable this?

Because the images that have been generated are solely for this two-week experiment, we are using a form to determine which images should be removed from the experiment. Because the icon/thumbnail translation feature is still being tested, we are not making this a setting in Creator Hub yet.

Once the experiment is over, we plan to launch icon/thumbnail translation fully. This will include a setting in Creator Hub that you can use to turn the feature on/off, an interface in Translator Portal to edit the translations, and a place to give feedback on incorrect translations.

Can I edit what has been auto-translated?

Not during the experiment, since we are only measuring the effectiveness of an initial batch of images. However, whenever the automatic image translation tool becomes available for creators to use, you’ll be able to preview and edit the translations.

Will this override any translations I have in place?

We will not override any existing translations if you have already provided translated icons and thumbnails for your experience. No action is required if you already have manually translated images.

If the name of your experience appears in the icon/thumbnail and you have provided a manual text translation for it, the tool will do its best to use the provided manual translation in the image.

Will you support more languages during this test?

No, this test will be limited to French, German, Indonesian, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, and Spanish. We are continuously working to improve our model and will start supporting more languages when we feel the appropriate quality can be achieved.

Why do I need to fill out a form to disable this?

Because the images that have been generated are solely for this two-week experiment, we are using a form to determine which images should be removed from the experiment. Because the icon/thumbnail translation feature is still being tested, we are not making this a setting in Creator Hub yet.

Once the experiment is over, we plan to launch icon/thumbnail translation fully. This will include a setting in Creator Hub that you can use to turn the feature on/off, an interface in Translator Portal to edit the translations, and a place to give feedback on incorrect translations.

Best,
Creator Translation Team

[vltsna]

This is going to be a good update for the younger players of Roblox. I’m glad that this will be a part of the platform.

[BritishTrainspotting (BritishTrainspotter)]

While I think this can be great as an option for developers, it should not require a form to disable, especially when many experiences may use words as proper nouns and thus translating them would be inaccurate, or words that have innapropriate or incorrect direct translations due to different meanings or interpretations of words within the same contexts but in different languages.

This should be a simple experience / place setting, not a form. I would like to remind Roblox of data collection laws in the EU that almost certainly prohibit opt-out data collection and data processing, especially when the only informing of the user is on a third party site (devforums is not Roblox.com). I do not consent to my personal works of art being shoved into AI, nor should I need to give my personal information in the form just to opt-out. Very anti-consumer.

Auto-translated images should also have a very prominent warning attached to indicate that it was automatically translated by Roblox, and is not a manually created image by the developer.

[JuanGamerPlayz_RBLX]

What happens if there’s a translation that is not accurate? Where can we share this feedback to the Creator Translation Team?

[catmaxcatnoob (catmaxxing)]

The example shown are impressive, however, like some others have pointed out here, I’m concerned about the fact that you have to submit a form just to disable this feature.
Why not add this as an option together with chat auto translate in the place’s configure page?

[Bloxkzz]

It’s a nice update but I’m concerned that you need a form to disable it and aren’t able to edit the auto translations for it to be corrected. Is there some sort of feedback or area where we can report some mistranslations or things that can improve this feature?

[ZweiForgot (Zwei)]

Upfront: I did not consent to having my game icon mangled by AI.

So far, none of these are accurate.

Original text is “Fractured Franchise”

The translated versions… do not follow.

[kirbyzaz (Magnet)]

This is an interesting experiment, but why is there an option to opt out of this experiment through a forum…? There have been a few artists concerned about “AI” accessing their art which is understandable, but it sucks that these opt-out systems are becoming a chore.

…I’m not even gonna question this being enabled by default, I had a feeling

[ZweiForgot (Zwei)]

I, too, am concerned about it being enabled by default. I did not consent to having my game icon mangled by AI.

[Dango360]

I have an experience called “FREE CLASSIC T-SHIRTS”. The current icon looks like this:

Here are the translated versions that the tool created:

Larger images

I- …what? The number looks fine (though the font changed). I don’t know what happened to the main logo/text. Some of the icons are passable but others are too challenging to read, especially when it’s icon-sized. I’m guessing that the text shadow in the original icon confused the model.

I don’t mind having AI-generated image translations, especially if it makes it easier for other players around the globe to understand something I’ve made. I just hope the model that is currently used gets better at understanding text design quirks like these.

[2048EE (Bando_Kid)]

I’m mainly going to assume that this is because the text is too small, however opt out if you can, because basically any icon or thumbnail with small text will instantly become unreadable for ROW players

[GloryToTheSunGod (RadPugGuy)]

Glad to see crypto bros that only understand crappy AI text will now be able to read my icon!

(this is cool though, gonna be neat once it actually works)

[RaterixRGL (Raterix)]

Then don’t? Upload your own translations, if you do it manually then the generated images won’t be used.

[DanTDM_Rocks999 (Dan)]

I’m not really sure if it’s a good idea to translate icons and thumbnails with AI, as it may not be intended to have the exact English source be translated word for word.

For example, the name “Minecraft” would be translated by AI to be “矿工艺”. However, Minecraft China is clearly written as 我的世界, which in English means “My World.”

This feature should be something that developers manually add.

[2048EE (Bando_Kid)]

Agreed. There are too many things you have to factor in with translations and currently AI is specifically not good at translating proper nouns.

[GloryToTheSunGod (RadPugGuy)]

The tech for automatic word replacement will be useful once it matures and becomes available to developers. But me personally i’d rather just edit the photoshop file.

[cloakedyoshi]

Interesting. I like this a lot.

Some are definitely more legible than others WRT font size and layout. The Polish (I think?) is super well done in terms of clarity and minimal artifacting. However the one smack dab in the middle is incredibly difficult to read in comparison.

My only question - would it be possible to get the icons named with their locale code and some “this was generated” prefix? As it stands now, there’s no surefire way to know what icon went to what / whether or not I created it. This risks clogging my inventory with stuff I don’t know much about - especially if this could get me moderated.

[VGVC2]

Experiments in general should be something that’s by default disabled that we have the option to opt in to via a form, not opt out via a form due to it being enabled by default.

That’s how you get a large negative reaction.

[KaviStudios (Kavi)]

I honestly believe this is a good idea but, I think that there just may be too many caveats that could cause problems.

Some text that is being translated might be inappropriate words, some words may be generated wrong and might not be readable, ect.

I understand why Roblox is taking this approach, but I would much rather have different images that are made by me and displayed the ‘correct one’ depending on the user’s language setting.