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The Baby translator was an invention by Herb Powell, Homer's half-brother.

After losing his car company due to the unsaleable car that Homer designed, Herb lived as a bum for a time. Still optimistic, however, he said that all a man really needed to make it was an idea. When Herb saw a young mother in a park struggling to figure out what her baby wanted, Herb had his idea: to make a device that would translate baby talk into regular speech. Herb told his fellow bums about the idea, and they pointed out that even with the idea, he was still a bum. Herb realized that he also needed money to get his idea off the ground. When Herb saw a newspaper headline saying that Homer had won a $2,000 award at work, he decided to pay the Simpson family a visit and ask Homer for a loan.

Homer was skeptical about the translator idea and reluctant to loan Herb any money, but Marge, Bart and Lisa convinced him to give Herb's idea a chance. After spending hours working with Maggie, Herb built a prototype translator and demonstrated it for the family. When Maggie babbled, the translator said that she wanted attention and entertainment and then translated Maggie's babbles as Lisa played Peek-A-Boo with her. Homer was still doubtful about the translator, but the other family members were impressed and Marge said that every mother in the country was going to want one.