Microsoft Corp. introduced a new technology on Tuesday called Skype Translator, which aims at translating conversations automatically almost in real-time.
The technology was unveiled by new Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella at the Code Conference in Ranchos Palos Verdes, Calif., according to PC Magazine.
Translator was created by researchers from the software giant and Skype engineers. Real-time speech-to-speech technology lets users talk online to people who speak different languages.
The technology was demonstrated by Gurdeep Pall, vice president of Skype, who spoke in English with a Skype manager in Europe who spoke German, Forbes reported.
Pall said a sentence in English, which was then translated by an automated voice into German.
Microsoft said Skype Translator will be available first as a Windows 8 beta app, and that it will be available before the end of 2014, PC Magazine reported.
"It is early days for this technology, but the Star Trek vision for a Universal Translator isn't a galaxy away, and its potential is every bit as exciting as those Star Trek examples," Pall wrote in a blog post Tuesday. "Skype Translator opens up so many possibilities to make meaningful connections in ways you never could before in education, diplomacy, multilingual families and in business."
The software company added that Skype currently has over 300 million users every month, as well as over 2 billion minutes of conversation per day.
Before Tuesday's demo, Microsoft showed off Translator with a real-time conversation of speech delivered by Microsoft's Rick Rashid in a speech in China, PC World reported.
"We felt speech translation was a very natural evolution of the text-translation work we've been doing," Chris Wendt, a program manager for Microsoft's machine language team, said in a blog post.
Nadella said during an onstage Q&A that the future of personal computing is becoming more personal, according to PC Magazine. He also stated that his company is focusing on making changes, such as the introduction of Skype Translator, to provide more human and natural experiences.
