Microsoft just unveiled a new service for Skype that can understand voice and translate the words into another language, speaking them back almost in real time. The new service dubbed Skype Translator is expected to be released for Windows 8 before the end of 2014, following 15 years of research. Microsoft is also planning to make it available to other platforms. At the moment, Skype has 300 million monthly users on desktops, tablets and smartphones.




The technology was demonstrated at the Code conference in California a few days ago, with the developers showing real-time translation of a Skype video call with a German colleague. The developer was speaking English, and the translation system then converted his speech into spoken German in real time, and vice versa.

Surprisingly enough, the system only made a few minor mistakes in the conversation, which demonstrated great improvements in word, meaning and order recognition since the technology was first shown translating English to Chinese 2 years ago.

The developers explain that Skype Translator can open up lots of possibilities to make meaningful connections in education, diplomacy, multilingual families and in business. Microsoft’s machine translator research began 15 years ago – first it was a text-based translation, later – voice recognition and dictation technologies, based on a neural network. The latter is a computer system that is able to “learn” to recognize inputs and generate outputs just like a group of nerves in human brain. The technology is developing as a brain, almost independently of the scientists and programmers. The developers admit that “transfer learning” is the most fascinating aspect – that is when you teach it English, but the system also becomes better at other languages.

Microsoft purchased UK-based Skype three years ago for $8.5bn – it still remains its largest purchase. The service provides the most used voice and video chat around the globe, but faces constant pressure from other messaging services, like Facebook’s WhatsApp, Google’s Hangouts and Apple’s FaceTime. The new feature, Skype Translate, could set the service apart and maintain its competitive edge. The only thing that remains unclear is whether the feature will be free or a paid addition


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