Carnegie Mellon and University of Karlsruhe To Demonstrate Breakthroughs
In Cross Lingual Communication and Speech-to-Speech Translation
Contact:
Anne Watzman
Carnegie Mellon
412-268-3830
Margit Roedder
University of Karlsruhe
011-49-721-608-8676
For immediate release:
October 18, 2005
PITTSBURGH-Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Karlsruhe's
joint International Center for Advanced Communication Technologies
(InterACT) will hold an international videoconference at 9 a.m., Thursday,
Oct. 27, to demonstrate new breakthroughs in cross-lingual communication.
The videoconference will take place in room 3305 Newell-Simon Hall on the
Carnegie Mellon campus, and simultaneously at the University of Karlsruhe.
InterACT director, computer science professor Alex Waibel, who is a
faculty member at both institutions, will demonstrate domain-independent,
speech-to-speech translation in a lecture, which will be simultaneously
translated from English to Spanish to German.
According to Waibel, current speech-to-speech translation systems allow
translation of spontaneous speech in very limited situations, like making
hotel reservations or tourist shopping, but they cannot enable translation
of large, open domains like lectures, television broadcasts, meetings or
telephone conversations. The new technology developed by InterACT
researchers fills that gap and makes it possible to extend such systems to
other languages and lecture types.
Waibel also will illustrate new ways of delivering speech translation
services beyond traditional headsets and an audio system. One involves an
array of small ultra-sound speakers that can deliver a narrow beam of
audio in a foreign language to a particular individual, while others
nearby hear the same speech in the original language as it's spoken
without disturbance.
Foreign language translation also can be produced through a system that
tracks and measures electrical currents on the surface of a person's cheek
and throat as they mouth words instead of speaking aloud. The system takes
the signal off of electrodes that recognize muscle movement, translates
and delivers I as audible sound in another language.
"Thus," said Waibel, "by moving our articulators in English, we can
demonstrate the generation of speech in Spanish, German or other
languages. In the future, such transducers could be implanted, enabling a
speaker to produce any language at will."
In addition to these new technological breakthroughs, Waibel and his
colleagues will also demonstrate other developments, including delivery of
speech via heads-up display and text, a PDA-based pocket interpreter for
fieldwork such as medical relief or military operations, as well as
simultaneous translation of videos of European Parliamentary sessions.
About InterACT
InterACT, headquartered at Carnegie Mellon and the University of
Karlsruhe, is dedicated to promoting greater understanding among the
world's people without removing cultural and linguistic individuality and
diversity. Its researchers build speech, image and text translation
technologies that help to improve communication by making the world's
language barriers transparent.
About Carnegie Mellon University
Carnegie Mellon is a private research university with a distinctive mix of
programs in computer science, robotics, engineering, the sciences,
business, public policy, fine arts and humanities. More than 8,000
undergraduate and graduate students receive an education characterized by
its focus on creating and implementing solutions to solve real problems,
interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation. A small faculty-to-student
ratio is pervasive on its 110-acre campus. Carnegie Mellon is also
distinctive among leading research universities because of
conservatory-like programs in its College of Fine Arts. For more
information, visit www.cmu.edu.
About the University of Karlsruhe
The University of Karlsruhe, established in 1825 is the oldest technical
university in Germany with programs that emphasize practical experience.
Its Computer Science Department, the first of its kind to be established
in Germany, was founded in 1972. It has long been ranked number one among
other such departments at universities in the German federal union. The
student population at Karlsruhe is 16,000. In addition to computer
science, the university boasts particular research strengths in
engineering, natural and economic sciences, as well as strong programs in
the humanities and social sciences. For more information, see
www.uni-karlsruhe.de.
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