Not Just Sci-Fi: Microsoft Working on Universal Translator

[Guest]

Yeah, I remember when I used to drag all my shopping across the floor, when out came this thing called a trolley. All my strength training has been for naught and I don't even get to wonder about how many eggs I've broken in the process.

 

[omega21xx]

In about 10-15 years this will be built into the free cell phones you get at your phone service provider.

 

[jackbling]

[citation][nom]redyellowblueblast[/nom]Am I the only one a little dismayed about this? Technology is meant to make life easier, not give you a free ride throughout all the facts of life. Iv'e been working on learning Japanese for a bit now and I take great pride in learning the language from scratch. And now your telling me that some idiot that has no experience with the language can now walk up with one of these devices and interpret it with no challenge at all? Does that not make my effort to learn the language a wasted one? I remember when humanity actually had to do work to do something of great meaning, now it seems to be gone. This doesn't just apply to learning a new language, but every challenge in life.[/citation]

You are placing SELF worth in learning the language.

"I can run a four minute mile; and now these idiots can get in cars and go waaay faster without any of the hardwork."

Technology is defined as the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes.

 

[zak_mckraken]

@redyellowblueblast : I understand your point, but maybe the skill in itself no longer has a great meaning? From a cultural aspect, you will gain no benefit from using such a device. From a practical view, however, it will be a revolutionary tool. Compare this to sewing skills. No one, or almost, would ever craft their own clothes. Still, some people continue to learn and master the craft for their own pleasure and satisfaction. The skill is not diminished by the fact machines made it almost obsolete. We still learn to divide in school even though calculators are everywhere!

Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.

 

[jhansonxi]

Translators work best when focused on specific subjects, like profanity. Swearing is critical to most multiplayer FPS games.

 

[Camikazi]

[citation][nom]NivenFres[/nom]Is it sad, that that was the first thing that came to my mind when reading this as well?[/citation]
Same here, hopefully he starts working on Androids soon and avoids the eugenics.

 

[kanoobie]

I wonder what the Road Runner meant when it said "Meep meep!"...
Hmm...
According to this... no it can't be right
Meep meep! **** off!

 

[NightLight]

[citation][nom]Inanition02[/nom]Anyone else see the irony/find it funny that Soong is working on this Star Trek tech?[/citation]

I saw this right off the bat

 

[dimar]

This kind of system should be open for everybody in the world, to tweak the translation, similar to Wikipedia. If I was the world's king, creating a free and open universal translator would be one of the first things to give to the world 🙂

 

[zhihao50]

[citation][nom]Inanition02[/nom]Anyone else see the irony/find it funny that Soong is working on this Star Trek tech?[/citation]


Some one should hire all the Cochrane out there to work on warp drive then, one of them ought to full fill the prophecy.

 

[back_by_demand]

[citation][nom]omega21xx[/nom]In about 10-15 years this will be built into the free cell phones you get at your phone service provider.[/citation]
How about it isn't built into phones at all and the voice is sent via a massive supercomputer to do all the heavy work in real time before it is retransmitted to the person at the other end of the phone
...
A bit like Siri, but translating instead of telling you where the nearest titty bar is

 

[njt]

thing is, listening to the english, spanish & italian translations, they are completely different. either someone made a mistake or it's sequential parts of a speech given in different languages - and therefore not a translation at all. the text in those three languages is not even close, just on the same subject.

 

[inanition02]

[citation][nom]zhihao50[/nom]Some one should hire all the Cochrane out there to work on warp drive then, one of them ought to full fill the prophecy.[/citation]

No, what we need is for Mr. Soong to go work for Google instead. I mean, who wouldn't rush to buy a working Soong-type Android 😉

 

[Guest]

Here's the question I have to wonder about with this translator. All of our web based translators currently in use (babbelfish, google translate, etc) only do a fair to poor job of translation from one language to another with the english to asian or arabic based languages being the worst. I know this due to the fact that I am an english speaker learning Mandarin right now in college. Google translate 99% of the time gives incorrect translations from what we're being taught. This has also been verified from my tutors who are from China studying here in the United States. So how is a speech based translator expected to work any better since it is a much more complex system? Computers need to first be able to understand all these languages before we can even consider making a device like the one talked about here.

 

[archange]

Umm. And does this work better than translator microbes??

 

[darkavenger123]

[citation][nom]bystander[/nom]It'll still translate the words, but it won't properly match the voice, tone and intonation of the other persons voice. The other person will hear those differences from you, however.[/citation]
Hmm...

Engilish speaker: I need a fork from you.
Translated to whatever language meaning turns to: I need to F-*ck you!!!

Can we sue MS if the translator screw up and we ends up beaten to a pulp by a crowd of raging natives in some middle-east country???