Is the technology supposed to help overcome the American soldiers' lack of command of Arabic? IBM has already provided 35 laptops with speech recognition software installed, and in the first phase they will be used by the medical teams, the special forces and the marines
The US Army will soon receive important assistance in communicating with the local population in Iraq - thanks to a new technology developed by IBM, for the rapid translation of spoken English into Iraqi Arabic. The technology is supposed to help overcome the fact that most soldiers know only a few phrases in Arabic, and the lack of human interpreters, said representatives of IBM and the US Army. "The goal is to have effective communication in different languages and in real situations, in conditions where human interpreters cannot be used," said Wayne Richards, a brigade commander in the United Forces.
IBM has already provided 35 laptops with speech recognition software installed, and in the first phase they will be used by the medical teams, the special forces and the marines. The computers will assist the American military in its dealings with the wounded and sick, with the Iraqi security forces and with the general public in Iraq. However, at the moment the technology is not able to help in battles, or in other situations where it is necessary to make decisions and react in a fraction of a second, IBM admits.
IBM has been developing technologies for speech recognition and translation for a long time, for commercial, private and military applications. The technology that will be implemented in Iraq is called Mastor - automatic translation of speech in one language into speech in another language - and it has been in development since 2001, said David Nahamo, chief director of human language technologies at IBM's research division. "In situations where the American military has to maintain contacts with the Iraqi forces or with civilians, the language barrier may significantly harm the results," Nehmo explains.
A laptop or PDA equipped with Mastor technology allows you to say sentences into the microphone. The software recognizes what is being said and speaks the translation to the person with whom you are talking, Nehmo explains. Unlike other translation software, Mastor technology is not limited to pre-programmed expressions, but recognizes the manner in which people speak, the grammar, the order of words and the structure of sentences, says Nahamo. When the software is not convinced of the exact meaning, it displays three options on the display to avoid errors or awkward situations. Because of this, the translation is not always immediate, similar to a human interpreter who waits for the speaker to finish a sentence.
The technology is capable of translating over 50 words in English and 100 words in Iraqi Arabic, and will eventually be applied in areas such as banking, aviation, police and tourism.
