Skype Translator Launched This Week

Skype’s latest app offering is one designed to translate speech in real time. Called Skype Translator, the app makes it possible for English and Spanish speakers to communicate in their native language, thus eliminating the language barrier. The result of years of work by the Microsoft research team, the app may very well change the way people communicate going forward. 

Skype Translator works by translating voice input from a Spanish or English speaker “into text and translated audio.” The English speaker would subsequently hear the translated words of the Spanish speaker, and vice versa. It also displays a transcript of the call. While Microsoft originally created a demonstration with English and German, the preview featured English and Spanish only.

Microsoft is marketing the translator as a tool for schools, and has so far tested it with Mexican and American students. Skype is a popular classroom option already, as teachers use it to participate in video conferences around the globe to connect their students with those in foreign lands.

As of the app’s launch, users are limited to Windows 8.1 software, either desktop or mobile. However, the preview program also features 40 languages for real-time chat, as well as translations for instant message conversations. Because the app’s technology includes advanced machine learning, the app will only get “smarter” with time and use. Essentially, the more the app hears a word, the more adept it will become at translating. Microsoft notes that “even the smallest conversations” helps Skype Translator “learn and grow.” 

Microsoft is looking to test the app with a much wider audience “in the real world,” and it will no doubt be interesting to see how the translator holds up in real situations featuring complex languages and interactions. Should it live up to its hype, Skype Translator could easily become one of the most powerful and dynamic technologies the world has ever seen.

If interested in testing Skype Translator, head over to Microsoft’s Skype site and request an invite. Use the STVER4230 registration code to hasten how fast your request goes through.

Will this app break the language barrier one conversation at a time? The potential impact sure is fascinating, as it would help both children and adults to break out of their current cultural limits and experience the words and ideas of people from all over the planet.