real-timetranslation
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Baidu develops its own take on real-time translation
Google isn't the only big game in town when it comes to real-time translations. Chinese search giant Baidu has developed its own system, STACL (Simultaneous Translation with Anticipation and Controllable Latency). Like its rival, it can start translating within a few seconds, without waiting for people to pause. Baidu, however, is counting on flexibility as its ace in the hole.
NTT DoCoMo begins testing automated Japanese / English translation app that actually works (video)
We went hands-on with NTT DoCoMo's menu translator last month at CEATEC, but now Japan's leading carrier has a new translation tool to show off -- and it's quite impressive. The smartphone-based service analyzes your spoken word in Japanese or English, letting you converse with your phone in either language and presenting an on-screen and audible translation. Even more notable, however, is the near-real-time call analysis, in which the device translates your call immediately after you finish speaking each line. We defer our interlingual calls to our Japanese staffers, but an app like this would make it possible to converse directly with folks in other countries without the need for a human translator. NTT is claiming a success rate of between 80 and 90 percent, which is a significant improvement over the version we saw demoed earlier this year. The carrier started testing the service with 400 users today, and hopes to make it available to all subscribers in the second half of 2012. Jump past the break to see it in action in a pair of Japanese-language demos.
DARPA and NIST testing real-time translation system for use in Afghanistan... with a Nexus One
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.
