10 Biggest Advancements In Star Trek History

Universal translators allow people to communicate with each other while speaking entirely different languages. They do this by scanning the speaker's brainwaves and somehow feeding a translated version of their thoughts into the mind of those around them.

It's unclear whether these devices could be used to read any thoughts, or simply those associated with language, but it's possible that the same tech could function as a form of artificial telepathy, or a direct brain interface like Geordi's VISOR.

It's probably not a coincidence that universal translators were invented shortly before the launch of the NX-01 Enterprise. Being so far from Earth would've been incredibly dangerous if the crew had no way to communicate with the new species they encountered. They were able to speak to the Vulcans, but any species that didn't have their own universal translators would've been extremely difficult.

By the 24th century, universal translators were built directly into every officer's combadge and every starship computer. Most civilians also had their own. The universal translator was the greatest advancement in communication since the invention of the telephone.