In a world with upwards of 7 billion humans speaking more than 500 different languages, having tools for translating is a necessity.
One key tool has been Google's free smartphone app, Google Translate. This app has helped millions to communicate, however, Google is about to add a new feature to the software: the ability to translate a speech into written text.
Google would be updating the Google Translate mobile app with a speech-to-text feature, the New York Times reported. If a user is speaking one of the 90 different languages that Google Translate is compatible with, it will transcribe it and translate it into text in real time. The potential uses of this software are limitless. It could help companies make international deals and families speak to one another despite language differences.
This move seems to be in response to Microsoft adding speech-to-text translation to Skype. However, it's uncertain how accurate Google's transcription abilities will be. Most speech-to-text transcription services are unable to discern what the subject said at times. Hopefully, Google will update the app over time in order to improve its comprehension ability.
Even if Google can design the software in a way that avoids translation discrepancies, there are still some who worry about the tech's ability to translate the non-grammatical element.
Kelly Fitzsimmons of the Hypervoice Consortium noted that the technology could offer some governments the chance to listen to conversations that would not have been accessible before this feature.
Oliver Fontana, director of product marketing at Skype, says that Skype's software separates and encodes each half of the conversation in order to keep them private. Only time will tell if Google installs similar software to protect a user's privacy.
Google Translate currently has more than 500 million users. Skype's speech-to-text feature is only used by a few thousand, though this will increase as developers add languages.
