American and European scientists have recently revealed a technology that enables direct translation of speech from one language to another. This technology, along with other translation technologies, was publicly introduced at Carnegie Mellon University (USA) last weekend.
The translation technology developed by American and European experts is a product of the International Advanced Information Technology Center (InterACT), a joint venture between Carnegie Mellon University and Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (Germany). By speaking in English, Professor Alex Waibel demonstrated that the system almost instantly translates his speech into German and Spanish simultaneously.
The speech translation software from InterACT utilizes recognition, speech synthesis, and statistical techniques to expedite the selection of words and phrases. These techniques are based on scanning a vast amount of previously translated documents to establish translation rules. Additionally, the research team introduced a directional speaker system that transmits translated speech directly to a specific person in the room, allowing that individual to listen without headphones. Another device displays translated subtitles along the bottom of a special pair of glasses.
Stan Jou, one of Professor Waibel’s research associates, introduced an even more remarkable idea. By attaching 11 electrodes to a person’s face and throat, a computer can generate speech from the movements of the mouth. Researchers believe this system could be used for mobile phone communication in areas where it is typically prohibited.
Research teams and several other companies are also exploring statistical methods in translation. In August 2005, Google won a machine translation competition organized by the U.S. government. One reason for Google’s success is the vast amount of translated information that the company compared for analysis.
Minh Sơn (According to NewScientist)
