New technology breaks the language barrier

An interpreter and language recognition system will be able to help you in the future speak another language in an instant, thanks to the electrodes attached to the mouth and throat.

The technology is being developed by professors at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Karlsruhe in Germany. "Our vision is to create technology that can completely remove the language barrier," said computer science professor Alex Waibel.

The system consists of a device that can translate words that do not need to be pronounced. The electrodes attached to the cheeks and throat will measure the electrical current generated from the muscle movement of the vocalisation in the mouth and emanate from the hearing in another language.

But users can not travel with the pile of electrodes attached to the face, so scientists need to study more to shrink the device and determine the best location to mount the touch.

Another missing sample consists of a pair of eyes illuminating the translated words on a virtual screen for the wearer, similar to the subtitle in the movie.

Waibel and his team are crossing the language barrier not only with innovative equipment but also with innovative software.

Previously, the speech-to-speech system was limited by subject matter, such as shopping, health checks, hotel reservations. That is because software programming is a complex labor process. But with the new technology, Waibel's team has designed the system to be no longer confined to the topic.

The current system can translate English into Spanish and German in a variety of contexts such as lectures, television broadcasts, and conferences. The group plans to expand the theme and will add more languages in the coming year.

MT ( Discovery )