DARPA and NIST testing real-time translation system for use in Afghanistan... with a Nexus One
By Donald Melanson 
posted August 2nd 2010 7:58AM
posted August 2nd 2010 7:58AM
DARPA has long been working on making real-time translation systems practical and portable, and it looks like it's now closer than ever to its goal -- although it can't necessarily take all the credit. The research agency recently teamed up with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (or NIST) to test three different systems as part of its TRANSTAC project, at least one of which relies on none other than a Nexus One to do real-time, spoken language translation from Pashto to English, and vice versa. Of course, specific details on the translation systems are otherwise a bit hard to come by, but NIST is more than happy to draw a few Star Trek comparisons in its demonstration video -- check it out after the break.
Better than pointing to pictures or pre-translated sheets of paper.
@yeoldgreat1
This man clearly uses an iPhone regularly, because he's holding it the right way.
@GenericPoster
You clearly aren't looking at the picture clearly, because that is not an iPhone.
@paul34
You clearly are not looking at my post correctly, I never stated that he was holding an iPhone.
Only that he held one regularly- no death grip on that phone there.
DERP.
@GenericPoster This has NOTHING to do with an iPhone.
And... Screw this if it helps the stupid war mongers!
@yeoldgreat1
i speak pashto and i would like one of these just for lulz :p
@GenericPoster I understood what you were saying :)
@paul34 Quietplease
you 2 are idiots.
@bfdhud
I'm glad some people did.
You can't say "android" in an artical without some mention of iPhone in the comments.
@yeoldgreat1
Engadget needs to start hosting the videos they put in stories. Whenever engadget posts a youtube they kill the youtube server and no one can watch the video.
@GenericPoster although if he was using an iPhone, he would just be using Jibbigo, which does exactly what this article describes and Apple pimped in their 'Backpacker' there's-an-app-for-that commercial. i imagine they probably have an android version coming out soon as well.
@GenericPoster is that the Darpa Chief Sigint ?
Ah So this is what they intent to replace Lt. Dan Choi with, charming.
@Tohe
as long as the person holding the phone is straight, because gay people aren't capable of controlling themselves when alone with the sexy beast that is the nexus one.
/s
*because someone is going to be stupid and think i was serious
@Tohe Winnar.
Let's hope the translations/voice recognition are a bit better than the automatic closed-captions seen on YouTube! I can't imagine the Afghans are particularly keen on being told that their hovercrafts are full of eels.
@RincewindWiz
Enough is enough! I have had it with these motherfucking Eels on this motherfucking hovercraft!
@RincewindWiz Hey if they can get a good spanish one that works on the EVO 4G then I would be happy.
@KAL326 google translate is actually really good, you can download it on the market
I think this is pretty cool. It won't be long before this stuff is native in VoIP devices in the business world. I can't wait to call friends in Germany and annoy them with real-time English to German translations that probably aren't that accurate.
What he said: "I need to take a look in the back."
Translator: "I want to look at your buttocks."
Seriously, go to google, use translator into your favorite language. Take that result, translate it back to english. And thats with text, not with the extra margin of error thrown in over misunderstood words. Yeah, this will fail.
Here is a sample double-translation out of and back to english from this article, surely a best-case-scenario with no misunderstood words:
"Of course, translation, otherwise a demo which is a bit tricky getting NIST has specific information about the Bon Appetit further than a few Star Trek - created after the break, check it out."
surely theres an app on the appstore for this?
@Bongo123
Prolly not, but Google Translate with voice recognition has been in the Android Market for quite a while. Use it for French-German-English almost every day.
@etwashoo2
hmmm, i see below there is an App.
isn't there already a translation app?
@lp894 no, there is no translation app, running directly on the device, with speech recognition and output without the need for internet connection. Only one I know is on the iPhone, Jibbigo
@GGG
Clot.
Hope the translation isn't crowd sourced:
http://countermeasures.trendmicro.eu/facebook-prank-lost-in-translation/
it'll get someone killed.
Is it called Babelfish? (:
@Marko My first thought was this should be called the Babelfish Project.
But does it translate animal sounds to words??
@Imran
If they make one for your mother tongue, YES.
P.S. This is to shut up the inner racist within you
@Abbas64
He might have just been referencing this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3I24bSteJpw
@Abbas64: you sir, are an idiot, google my name and you'll see the idiocy of calling me a racist towards Afghanis. And thanks for the link AcrimoniousBird, that is indeed what I was referring to.
@Abbas64 he's talking about the prank Android app Google released on April Fools called Google Translate for Animals
I'm kind of surprised... for the iPhone there is such an app for quite some time now.
It is called Jibbigo, and they have it for Spanish-English, English-Chinese, English-Iraqi and English-Japanese.
Personally used the Spanish-English and must say that's the future...
Never thought that such things would be available during my lifetime...
@smartguy32
Yes but it required internet.
@magallanes no, that's wrong. Jibbigo runs completely on device, no internet required...
Droid does.
Isn't it really sunny in Afghanistan, good luck AMOLED.
Coming soon on Rapidshare and Megaupload (i hope so) :-P
I only speak Pesto :(