Tag Archive for machine translation

Anthony | December 21, 2011
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Is the future of MT now in your hands?

Yesterday, the following survey dropped into Translation Blog’s inbox, and we thought we should share it with you – not least because there is a chance to win an iPad2 in January – which would be a great start to the New Year.SmartMATE, a full Machine Translation (MT) and Translation Memory (TM) platform designed for use by almost anyone who needs to translate text from one language to another, caused quite a stir at a number of conferences and exhibitions such as TAUS and Localization World in 2011.

We got in touch with Richard Stangroom at SmartMATE.co to give him the chance to explain in more detail. The SmartMATE team want translators and interested people to have a go on the system, build an engine and use the platform, before letting them know what you think by answering the short survey. The link to that survey is here (http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/smartmate_feedback) and at the bottom of the page.

Richard tells us:
Over the last six months we have been offering users free trials of the SmartMATE system with a selected band of individuals and companies, giving them a chance to get their hands on the system and have a play with its features. We then listened to the feedback, continued to develop it and now we have it ready, in Beta at least.

As a result of the initial tests with users not only did we build an editing environment, but we also decided to roll our Translation Memory and Machine Translation systems into this one web-based system.

The full SmartMATE platform, which includes the ability to build your own MT engine, full TM integration, the use of your own glossaries, and the new editing environment will be launched for commercial use in January, so we are keen to get as much feedback as possible now, in order to find and fix any remaining issues with the system. This is where the readers of Translation Blog can help us.

We want to give you free use of the system until the full launch – and you will still qualify for a 30 day trial. Not only that, but for your assistance, you will also be entered into a prize draw for a chance to win an iPad2!

The system is built on XML Localisation Interchange File Format (XLIFF, .xlf format) and supports this perfectly, although we have also built in file filtering for MS-Word (.doc/.docx, but not .rtf). All these documents will be supported by the editing environment. Pure text (.txt) and SDL Trados Tag Format (.ttx) are also supported for MT and TM only.

We’re particularly keen to hear what you think of the quality of our MT, and if it matches the experience of the people who regularly use the technology, such as Bartosz Rogowski, a Polish translator, who had this to say:

“The problem with machine translation was always that you had to choose between two options; using a system that relied on C++ expertise, which leads to a lot of sleepless nights, or buy an inferior ‘out of the box’ ‘one size fits all’ solution, that may not meet your quality standards. SmartMATE has solved the problem by bridging the gap between these two options, improving the quality of the output and being very easy to use.

“SmartMATE lets you build different engines that will, for instance, imitate incomprehensible jargon used by your customers, and will remember the 1500-item list of terminology that your other customer requires. A great new tool for translators!”

Once again, to qualify for the competition, have a go with SmartMATE  by registering at www.smartmate.co, and then fill out this quick survey once you have finished: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/smartmate_feedback .

Category: Free Translation, Machine Translation, Translation, Translation Blog | Tags: , , , , ,
Anthony | October 3, 2011
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CERN results show that technology continues to drive learning in all walks of life

While scientists were fascinated by findings that seem to show that the speed of light can be exceeded, in what could be the most important physics discovery for nearly 100 years, we were marvelling at another great example of how cutting edge technology is not only the result of innovation and discovery – it fuels it as well.

The CERN collider, completed in 2008, is one of the most expensive scientific instruments ever built costing 7.5 billion EUROS, and has been designed to push the boundaries of our understanding of the universe. While the collider has been unsuccessful so far in finding the fabled Higgs Boson, it has provided scientists with a series of other discoveries that is helping us to build an accurate picture of the building blocks of the universe.

In the world of language translation, technology is also playing an increasingly integral role in improving ability to communicate effectively in different languages. Each week there is a leap forward in the field of machine translation (MT) that will eventually mean that accurate, high quality translations of text from one language to another is only a few clicks of a software programme away –rather than the process of translating a text, and then needing it to be post-edited by a linguist before being able to use it. This is one such example that was launched in September: www.smartmate.co

As commerce and communication becomes an international activity on an increasingly daily basis, being able to speak to any number of people in their preferred language offers a huge advantage over other communicators and businesses, and can open many doors and fresh opportunities.

Although the common perception of machine translation is one of bizarre interpretations created by systems such as Babelfish and Google translate, the fact is that technology is driving this revolution, and there are already a number of apps for handheld devices that can instantly translate road signs, instructions and menus from one language to another.

Technology may be some way from solving the secrets of the universe, but the improving strength and capability of machine translation technology and technology that allows language to be instantly understood is set to make our world smaller, by making it easier to communicate in any corner of the globe.

Category: Translation | Tags: , ,
GavinWheeldon | December 1, 2010
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Machine Translation in the Real World – a Dell Case Study

Register now

Space is limited. Register now.

Many companies are talking about machine translation but the number of organisations that are actually putting it into practice and carrying out live trials is still relatively low given the excellent results that this translation method can now deliver.

With the developments in machine translation and the increasing popularity of post edited machine translation there is a lot of noise about the service, but with this comes debate around appropriate content, volumes, quality and investment versus long term cost efficiencies which will be addressed by our webinar panel.

Join us for a Machine Translation Webinar on December 15

Space is limited.
Reserve your Webinar seat now at:
https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/884796078

MT in the Real World will communicate the benefits, address the challenges and dispel the myths surrounding this rapidly evolving translation technology solution and will feature Wayne Bourland, Senior Manager in Dell’s Global Localization Team talking about the company’s reasons for using MT, how they use it and for which content types.

John Dixon, Strategic Solutions Director at Applied Language Solutions will present on the results gained from building a bespoke engine for Dell and will be joined by Professor Andy Way, esteemed MT expert from Dublin City University and consultant for Applied Language Solutions, who will talk about our roadmap for MT based around the MOSES tool.

Title: MT in the Real World – a Dell Case Study
Date:Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Time:4:00 PM – 5:00 PM GMT
To read more about machine translation visit http://www.appliedlanguage.com/translation_services/blended_approach-.aspx

After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.

System Requirements
PC-based attendees
Required: Windows® 7, Vista, XP or 2003 Server
Macintosh®-based attendees
Required: Mac OS® X 10.4.11 (Tiger®) or newer

Category: Machine Translation, Technology, Translation | Tags: , , ,
LeeB | November 1, 2010
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ALS at ICT2010

ICT2010 Brussels

ICT2010 Brussels

Applied Language Solutions visited ICT 2010 this year and was proud to see so much innovation coming from the EU.

The show was opened up by, amongst others, the President of Belgium and the Prince of Belgium, highlighting the prestige associated with this important industry event. The main auditorium allowed multilingual presentations to be shown removing the language barrier by having a panel of interpreters and linguists behind the scenes, while the translated versions of what was being said were beamed into our ears using InfraRed headsets. The languages covered were English, French, Italian and Spanish and you simply turned a dial to your language and the headset would repeat what was being said.  All clever stuff.

In addition to networking sessions and discussions there was also the ICT Exhibition Forum which included everything from Robots such as the iCub and EEG devices such as the GammACap to home automation and green IT initiatives. A full rundown of what was being exhibited can be found here.

EuroMatrixPlus had a stand in the exhibition room which was manned when I was there by Andreas Eisele and Christian Federmann. I discussed various Machine Translation subjects with Christian on the day and got to talk about our own SmartMATE Machine Translation Solution. Hans Uszkoreit was also there and gave an interesting presentation on Understanding of contents through understanding of languages.

Lots of innovation was on show and we were happy to see a keen interest in green technologies such as renewable energies and carbon credit schemes, which are becoming more and more important in the procurement of services, across multiple industries.  Applied Language Solutions has always had green initiatives at our core with paperless offices and cloud computing so it’s great to see so many companies investing in the research and development of additional green technologies that can be adopted by corporates.

With all of the advancements being made in so many different areas, it’s clear that there are a lot of exciting years ahead for Europe.

Category: Localization | Tags: , ,
Kenny Holden | February 16, 2010
3 comments

Google goggles with machine translation at Mobile World Congress

This evening at the Mobile Web Congress in Barcelona, Google CEO Eric Schmidt showed off a fantastic tourist tool – Google Goggles with Machine Translation.

It’s a system for taking a picture of some text and getting a near instant translation of it. Essentially the user takes a picture of something like a street-sign, restaurant menu or poster and then it uses optical character recognition (OCR) to extract the text from the image which is then submitted to Google Translate for Machine Translation.

Eric demonstrated the system on a Google Android powered phone and then went on to promote the rumoured speech-to-speech translation; “I’ve got Google translate which can translate 100 languages to 100 languages, so why can’t I just speak on the phone to someone who doesn’t speak my language? Well, we’re not quite there yet, but it’s coming soon.”

Of-course machine translation is generally far from accurate, but for casual indicative translation results it should suffice for tourists.

So if you’re one of the Android carrying tourists, your menu reading problems may be solved but there are still the expensive roaming data charges to worry about!

Category: Technology, Translation | Tags: , , , , , , ,
samp | December 4, 2009
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Search the Web in 51 Different Languages

Google translates the search query and the results

Google translates the search query and the results

Google yesterday added a new feature to their search results, allowing users to instantly translate their search results.

By selecting show options and translated results, Google will automatically detect the language and translate the results accordingly. They’ll even select the most appropriate language for your search query, translate your English search and display translated results from foreign language sites.

Google has admitted that their language detection algorithm still needs refinement, and I found this when I searched for ‘restaurant reviews Zurich’. I was only shown translated results in German, when German, Italian and French are all official languages of Switzerland. But you can always add languages to a search if Google doesn’t pick the right one first time.

I personally think this is a great feature, especially with the huge growth in the amount of user generated content on the web. For owners of sites that rely on user reviews, comments and discussion, to get all that content professionally translated might not be top of their priorities and this tool will open up a whole new audience for them.

However as most people will know by now, machine translation has many pitfalls and has a long way to go before it can truly replace professional human translation. According to Google, one Zurich restaurant reviewer described an Indian restaurant as:

“Atmosphere is hammer. Operation is super. The food, compared to other Indian restaurants good have no curries.”

If you are searching the web for any of the following, I think you’ll find translated search useful:

  • Reviews of places in foreign speaking countries such as hotels, restaurants, attractions
  • Technical help and how to guides that might not exist in your language
  • News and discussion about your favourite foreign football team
  • Recipes from a particular country
Category: Free Translation, Languages | Tags: , ,