using Macintosh as spoken language interpreter?
Tony Minkoff
I'd like to use my Mac as an interpreter. That is, I want it to
facilitate conversation between two people in the room who don't speak the
same language. It should be able to recognize speech, determine the
language in which it is spoken, translate it to the other language, and
then either display or speak the translation. (The particular languages
of interest are English and Spanish.)
Is this doable?
--
Tony Minkoff
admi...@uswest.net
Kevin Stone
admi...@uswest.net (Tony Minkoff) wrote:
It would probably be very easy for an experienced programmer to setup an
Apple Script to copy the text recorded in a speech recognition
application, import that text into a translation application, then read it
back using the MacOS's built in PlainTalk text->speech software using
either the English or Spanish voices that come with the operating system.
Unfortunatly the good Speech Recognition software is currently only
available for Windows98/NT. There is rumor that Dragon Software is
porting thier top selling SR software over to the MacOS... but no word on
when it will become available.
Otherwise this would be very doable.
-Kevin Stone
Stone Entertainment
www.StoneEntertainment.com
(no email please)
Bill Altenberger
or excite has xlation available. Its free but unsecure..
Bill
In article <stone-12129...@rc-pm3-1-35.enetis.net>,
Forrest Cameranesi
>Unfortunatly the good Speech Recognition software is currently only
>available for Windows98/NT. There is rumor that Dragon Software is
>porting thier top selling SR software over to the MacOS... but no word on
>when it will become available.
Dragon already has PowerSecretary on the Mac.
--
-Forrest Cameranesi
Owner of the Universe, seeking employees for "Ruler" and "Master" positions. Apply at front desk. All prices subject to chance. Universe, the Universe logo, and all objects contained within are (TM) and (C) Everything Unlimited, a wholly owned subsidary of Cameranesi Enterprises. Remember, "We know what you want. We know what you need. We know where you live."
Tony Minkoff
as easy as I would like. (You have to type the text to be translated into
an edit box in your browser, select the translation direction from a list,
and press a button. It's not exactly brain surgery, but it's a pain if
one of the participants in the conversation has no computer experience,
nor even typing skills.)
Perhaps it would be possible to write an AppleScript to drive a process of
getting the text via PlainTalk, entering into a browser and getting the
translation. Anybody care to comment on this possibility?
In article <billa-12129...@ostrich-4.slip.uiuc.edu>,
bi...@uiuc.edu (Bill Altenberger) wrote:
> If my memory serves me correct, one of the internet sites such as yahoo
> or excite has xlation available. Its free but unsecure..
>
> Bill
>
>
>
> In article <stone-12129...@rc-pm3-1-35.enetis.net>,
> st...@enetis.net (Kevin Stone) wrote:
>
> > In article <adminkoff-121...@edsl129.phnx.uswest.net>,
> > admi...@uswest.net (Tony Minkoff) wrote:
> >
> > >Let me know if this is possible:
> > >
> > >I'd like to use my Mac as an interpreter. That is, I want it to
> > >facilitate conversation between two people in the room who don't speak the
> > >same language. It should be able to recognize speech, determine the
> > >language in which it is spoken, translate it to the other language, and
> > >then either display or speak the translation. (The particular languages
> > >of interest are English and Spanish.)
> > >Is this doable?
> >
> > It would probably be very easy for an experienced programmer to setup an
> > Apple Script to copy the text recorded in a speech recognition
> > application, import that text into a translation application, then read it
> > back using the MacOS's built in PlainTalk text->speech software using
> > either the English or Spanish voices that come with the operating system.
> >
> > Unfortunatly the good Speech Recognition software is currently only
> > available for Windows98/NT. There is rumor that Dragon Software is
> > porting thier top selling SR software over to the MacOS... but no word on
> > when it will become available.
> >
> > Otherwise this would be very doable.
> >
> > -Kevin Stone
> > Stone Entertainment
> > www.StoneEntertainment.com
> > (no email please)
--
Tony Minkoff
admi...@uswest.net
Tony Minkoff
SPAMLES...@west.net (Forrest Cameranesi) wrote:
> In article <stone-12129...@rc-pm3-1-35.enetis.net>,
> st...@enetis.net (Kevin Stone) wrote:
>
> >Unfortunatly the good Speech Recognition software is currently only
> >available for Windows98/NT. There is rumor that Dragon Software is
> >porting thier top selling SR software over to the MacOS... but no word on
> >when it will become available.
>
> Dragon already has PowerSecretary on the Mac.
1) Is it scriptable? I dabbled in AppleScript for a brief time a while
ago, but rapidly became frustrated with the fact that most of the
applications I wanted to script either were not scriptable, or were
documented poorly or not at all.
2) Anybody know whether it would be possible to script the use of
Altavista's Babelfish translation service? It would be necessary to post
a form (I think Babelfish uses POST), and then to parse the returned HTML.
(I should also clarify what I mean by "possible." If it takes an
experienced AppleScript developer 50 hours to do it, it's a bit outside my
reach, practically speaking.)
--
Tony Minkoff
admi...@uswest.net
Hush Puppy
Forrest Cameranesi wrote in message ...
>In article <stone-12129...@rc-pm3-1-35.enetis.net>,
>st...@enetis.net (Kevin Stone) wrote:
>
>>Unfortunatly the good Speech Recognition software is currently only
>>available for Windows98/NT. There is rumor that Dragon Software is
>>porting thier top selling SR software over to the MacOS... but no word on
>>when it will become available.
>
>Dragon already has PowerSecretary on the Mac.
>
Erick Wong
>You're probably thinking of babelfish.altavista.com. It's usable, but not
>as easy as I would like. (You have to type the text to be translated into
>an edit box in your browser, select the translation direction from a list,
>and press a button. It's not exactly brain surgery, but it's a pain if
>one of the participants in the conversation has no computer experience,
>nor even typing skills.)
>
>Perhaps it would be possible to write an AppleScript to drive a process of
>getting the text via PlainTalk, entering into a browser and getting the
>translation. Anybody care to comment on this possibility?
There's a scriptable program (I think it's called WebMiner?) that is designed
specifically for AppleScripting web stuff. You might also look into Frontier,
I think they mentioned an OSAX or something similar.
As for scripting non-scriptable apps, you can look into using a macro program
like KeyQuencer for driving them, and KeyQuencer is in turn AppleScriptable.
-- Erick
David T. Wang
: Let me know if this is possible:
: I'd like to use my Mac as an interpreter. That is, I want it to
: facilitate conversation between two people in the room who don't speak the
: same language. It should be able to recognize speech, determine the
: language in which it is spoken, translate it to the other language, and
: then either display or speak the translation. (The particular languages
: of interest are English and Spanish.)
: Is this doable?
: --
: Tony Minkoff
: admi...@uswest.net
Funny thing is that I was just talking about this with some Japanese
researchers who is developing the software to do this sort of thing.
"Automatic translation". To be short, it's still a dream, (my opinion,
not theirs). However, I am guessing that it should be feasible in
another 3 years or so, depending on the level of accuracy you demand.
If you break the task into 3 parts, then it's easier to see. There is
speech recognition, translation engine, and then speech synthesis.
Synthesis is easy, and we're past that stage. However, speech recognition
and the context sensitive translation engine still needs work. If you
only demand accuracy on the level of the original Newton's handwriting
recognition, then perhaps with existing software you can even setup
something today, as various people are suggesting. However, you have to
speak slowly, and there is very little context sensitive translation.
(Mostly lookup table kind of things) Believe it or not, all of this
is very compute intensive, (mix in the real time requirements, and it
gets more interesting)
I'm 100% serious when I say this, but I forsee 5 years from now, the
"kill-app" kind of device is a mobile/wearable kind of computer/PDA
that can do automatic translation. (Star Trek?)
It may never get as good as a real translator, but 95% accuracy is
quite acceptable to get you to hire a Taxi, get a beer, and order
a Hamburger.
I wish I had such a devic now. :)
--
dave...@kagututi.kecl.ntt.co.jp.I.like.green.eggs.and.ham,not.spam
All statements are personal opinions
Not speaking for NTT or University of Maryland
Kyoto, Japan.
David Kurtz
admi...@uswest.net (Tony Minkoff) wrote:
> Perhaps it would be possible to write an AppleScript to drive a process of
> getting the text via PlainTalk, entering into a browser and getting the
> translation. Anybody care to comment on this possibility?
>
PlainTalk alone will not allow you to input text. You need something like
PowerSecretary.
--
David Kurtz -- remove the underscore from my email address to reply
PGP key and more... http://www.lightside.net/~david/