IraqComm

The IraqComm System

IraqComm is a speech translation system that performs two-way, speech-to-speech machine translation between English and colloquial Iraqi Arabic. SRI International in Menlo Park, California led development of the IraqComm system under the DARPA program Spoken Language Communication and Translation System for Tactical Use ( [http://www.darpa.mil/ipto/programs/transtac/index.htm TRANSTAC] ).

IraqComm has a vocabulary of tens of thousands of words in English and in Iraqi Arabic.cite news|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/05/29/BUGF8J39HK1.DTL |title=Military getting high-tech help from SRI lab; New system can recognize words, understand simple foreign phrases |accessdate=2007-08-17|last=Abate |first=Tom |date=2006-05-29 |publisher="San Francisco Chronicle" |page=E-1] The system is designed to enable soldiers or medics to converse with civilians in settings such as military checkpoints, door-to-door searches, or first aid situationscite news|url=http://www.iraqcomm.com |title=IraqComm website] . The system is tailored to translate spoken interactions on topics on force protection, security, and basic medical services, and can be customized to include other topics as needed. Conversations can be logged for later review or archiving.

Notable Users

After IraqComm demonstrated leading performance in competitive laboratory tests under Phase 1 of TRANSTAC, in Spring 2006 the U.S. military selected the IraqComm system for evaluation in real tactical operations in Iraq.cite news|url=http://www.sri.com/news/releases/07-12-06.html |title=SRI International Deploys Portable Speech-to-Speech Translation System for Investigative Fielding in Iraq |date=2006-07-12 |author=SRI International |publisher=SRI International press release]

How it Works

IraqComm integrates three software technologies: automatic speech recognition (ASR), machine translation (MT), and text-to-speech synthesis (TTS). To start a dialog, the user speaks into the microphone and the system records his or her voice. The ASR module processes the recording and displays what it heard on the screen. The MT module translates the phrase into the target language (e.g., Iraqi Arabic). The TTS module then “speaks” this translation, which is also displayed on the screen.

To simplify and speed up communication, the IraqComm interface provides a shortcut menu of frequently used phrases. The user can change the phrase to be translated by editing it with thekeyboard or by selecting a similar-sounding phrase with a single press of a button.

SRI's DynaSpeak(R) speech recognition engine is embedded in the IraqComm system. DynaSpeak speech recognition is also used in the Phraselator, a weatherproof handheld language translation device developed by VoxTec, a former division of the military contractor Marine Acoustics, located in Annapolis, MD.

References

External links

* [http://www.iraqcomm.com/ IraqComm official website]
* [http://www.speechatsri.com/products/dynaspeak.shtml SRI's DynaSpeak web page]
* [http://www.sri.com/ SRI International official website]
* [http://www.darpa.mil/ipto/programs/transtac/index.htm/ DARPA TRANSTAC Program official website]