In a bid to connect people from different continents with different language, Microsoft is bringing real-time speech translation functionality to Skype by the end of this year. The feature was demonstrated by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella at Re/code’s Code Conference in the US.
Skype translator was demonstrated in a conversation between Gurdeep Singh Pall, corporate vice president,Skype and a German speaker. Initially, available in beta, the product provides both a spoken and text translation for about 40 languages. However, Microsoft plans to add more languages and support for a variety of computers and devices in the long run. Skype Translator will be available as a standalone Windows 8.1 app later this year.
Today, we have more than 300 million connected users each month, and more than 2 billion minutes of conversation a day as Skype breaks down communications barriers by delivering voice and video across a number of devices, from PCs and tablets, to smartphones and TVs. But language barriers have been a blocker to productivity and human connection; Skype Translator helps us overcome this barrier.
said Microsoft in a company blog post about the Skype Translator.
When in use, the Skype translator displays the text at the bottom of the screen in both the languages. The length of time it takes to translate is totally dependent on the length of the sentence or phrase. Microsoft said that the feature is a result of collaboration between Skype, Bing, Microsoft’s Research Lab, which has long been working on natural language processing and machine learning for a while.
Check out the video below for to understand the Skype Translator
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eu9kMIeS0wQ