Not counting your aboriginal nomenclature , how many languages can you speak ? mayhap one , peradventure two . The majority of us can not speak any junior-grade language , while others speak many languages . Pope John Paul IIcan speak 10 languages , and others exact to address dozens . Even if you’re able to speak 100 languages , that ’s only a minor percentage of the more than 6,000 language that be in the world . This diversity in languages can make it unmanageable when trying to intercommunicate with someone who does n’t talk a linguistic process you understand .
If you are familiar with " Star Trek , " then you know about the cosmopolitan language translators that the show ’s writers make to lot with the communicating problem posed by a mass of unlike languages . ViA , a wearable computing machine maker , has develop an Earth - based language translator that will be available afterward this year to the U.S. military and English - speaking consumer .
In this clause , we will look at the twist itself and how it turns English into any one of almost a dozen lyric .
Universal Translator Hardware
ViA ’s universal translator gadget will look just like the ship’s company ’s wearable computer , ViA II . The computer is about the size of two deck of cards . It is divided into two halves , which are held together by a flexible joint . The 1.38 Irish pound ( 0.63 kg ) ViA II is a fully functional PC that can either be strapped to the user ’s belt or stow in a jacket pocket . With dimensions of 9.75 in ( 24.77 cm ) long , 3.13 inches ( 7.95 centimeter ) wide and 1.25 column inch ( 3.18 cm ) thick , the twist packs a muckle of power into a diminished package .
The universal translator will be equipped with a 600 megahertzmicroprocessorand will incline on Windows 2000operating system . ViA II is compatible with akeyboardor voice recognition software . It ’s this voice user interface that has allowed ViA to convert the wearable PC into a wearable translating machine . Here ’s a look at the parts of the wearable twist :
ViA has yet to declare the name for the gadget , but it has said that the machinelike interpreter will be useable in the downslope of 2001 with a price of between $ 5,000 and $ 10,000 . So , just how does this wearable equipment recognize articulation , understand what is being said and then read it into a extraneous language ?
Languages in a Box
Work on ViA ’s worldwide translator began about two year ago as a mode to ensure that people of different languages can put across with each other in life - and - death situations . Robert Palmquist , ViA ’s vice Chief Executive of innovational engineering , described the disaster that sparked the development of the ViA translating program . A few twelvemonth ago , several people died in a fervour in St. Paul , MN , because firefighters were ineffective to communicate effectively with the victims . Non - English speaking residents of the edifice were try out to flee , but misunderstood where the firefighters were state them to go and walked directly into the fire . It ’s possible that if the firefighters would have had a render gimmick , the fatalities could have been avoided .
Currently , the equipment is only project for English - speak users , because ViA believes the object audience for this equipment is English speakers . Here ’s how the gadget will work :
Initially , the equipment will be able to translate English into about a twelve lyric , including Korean , Serbian , Arabic , Thai , Mandarin Chinese , French , German , Italian , Lusitanian and Spanish . Obviously , the gadget will not be able-bodied to translate word - for - parole , but it will get across the gist of what the user is saying . The equipment is very smart . It allow for departure in English emphasis , such as the difference of opinion between accents in Houston and Boston . It also has adictionary stackingfunction , which allows user to add jargon and slang to the standard dictionary install on the gadget .
The value of such a gadget was clear to theU.S. Office of Naval Research(ONR ) , which invested money for ViA to develop the automatic translator . Joel Davis , curriculum director at ONR , said that the equipment could replace human translating program , who are expensive to aim and whose attainment incline to diminish over time . Davis says that one translate gadget would be portion for a group of 12 soldiers in the field , and the twist would facilitate basic verbal interaction with aboriginal residents .
A body - worn translator would do good not only the armed forces , but would also be worthful to tourer , aerodrome personnel , phone operators , and border patrol and customs agents . In the future , we may all wear a tiny wearable translator to remove one of the boastful barriers to communication across acculturation .
