Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s Skype Translator provides real-time speech recognition, machine learning and automated translation as a bundle into one program. The recently rolled out beta version offers live speech translation for Spanish and English as well as text translation for more than 40 languages.
Gizmodo professionals ran a test conversation to check Skype’s Spanish-to-English accuracy. They found Skype Translator’s speech recognition to be pretty good and fast. The accuracy was pretty good even while talking unplugged and over loud background music. However, the accuracy was found to be decreasing with faster conversations, or more words per minute.
The Amazing Workflow
Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s Skype Translator recognizes caller’s voice, corrects for any ticks, translates and then delivers to the listener – all at pretty faster pace. Users will require to select their respective languages as well as the language of the other person speaks and writes, whom they are about to call.
The Translator app looks like Skype, with some additional features, and allows placing the call like normal. Gizmodo reviewers gave decent score to Skype’s speech recognition while suggesting more improvement for the Translator feature.
Global Language Barrier
With evolution of information and communication technologies, outstanding efforts have been dedicated at overcoming global language barrier. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s Skype Translator is yet another commercial effort aimed at overcoming this barrier, at least in future.
Skype Translator works best when someone has basic understanding of the foreign language. However, with no knowledge of other person’s language, one may have a tough time understanding with this feature. Microsoft has recently launched Skype Translator as a free download for Windows 8.1.
Gurdeep Pall, Microsoft’s corporate vice-president of Skype and Lync, said Skype Translator will get smarter the quality will continually improve with more use of the technology as it relies on machine learning. He assured that the technology would open up endless possibilities.
