MyLingo

MyLingo, operating under Oladas, Inc., was a mobile application company that aimed to make the movie-going experience more inclusive for non-English-speaking audiences. The company was founded in 2012 by siblings Olenka and Adam Polak, who were inspired by their personal experiences growing up in a Polish-speaking household in the United States. They often could not enjoy movies as a family due to the language barrier their parents faced. This firsthand frustration sparked the idea for an app that would provide synchronized, studio-approved alternate language audio tracks for films in real-time.

The founders' journey began at the Harvard Innovation Lab. Olenka Polak, a Harvard student at the time, dropped out to pursue the venture full-time after the concept won the Harvard Innovation Challenge in 2013 and gained investor interest. Her brother, Adam, was a chemical engineering graduate from Johns Hopkins University. Their combined efforts led to the development of the myLINGO app, which secured partnerships with major Hollywood studios like Disney, Paramount, and Sony, as well as theater chains including Cinemark and Regal. The company raised approximately $1.13 million in seed funding to support its growth.

MyLingo's service allowed users to download its free mobile app, select a movie, and download the corresponding foreign language audio file before heading to the theater. Inside the cinema, the app would use the phone's microphone to listen to the movie's audio, employing a proprietary audio fingerprinting algorithm to perfectly synchronize the downloaded track with the on-screen action. The audio was delivered through the user's own wired headphones, and the app was designed to be theater-friendly by darkening the screen and disabling speakers to avoid disturbing other patrons. The business model involved charging a per-movie fee, typically around $1.99 for each audio track download, although some were offered for free for a limited time. Initially launching with Spanish audio for the U.S. Hispanic market, the company had plans to expand its language offerings. Despite initial momentum and strategic partnerships, PitchBook data indicates the company is now out of business.

Keywords: film audio synchronization, movie dubbing app, multilingual cinema, in-theater translation, audio fingerprinting technology, language accessibility, cinema technology, movie audio app, Spanish language movies, Olenka Polak, Adam Polak, Harvard Innovation Lab, Thiel Fellowship, Cinemark partnership, Regal partnership, studio-approved audio, dubbed audio tracks, movie accessibility, Oladas Inc, second language audio