Signal 10 2006

A two-way speech-to-speech (S2S) translation system is in the investigative fielding stage with joint warfighters in Iraq. A combination of speech recognition and language translation software, the program can be used on laptop and tablet PCs and features a vocabulary of approximately 40,000 to 50,000 English and Arabic words. The capability is the result of a collaborative effort among the U.S. Joint Forces Command (JFCOM), the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the U.S. Army's Sequoyah machine foreign language translation program. The S2S feature eliminates the need for users to read translations from a computer screen. JFCOM is overseeing the investigative fielding of the S2S capability. The work includes training users; developing tactics, techniques and procedures; and designing joint concepts of operations. Feedback from users will be used to enhance system requirements and to better delineate performance expectations, and DARPA will use this input to further develop the system. Plans include adding new languages to the S2S system based on defense language priority requirements.
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