More than one in ten Dutch people do not speak a second language, another quarter speak only two languages. Because Dutch people also visit countries where neither English nor Dutch is spoken, translation problems arise. The Rotterdam startup Travis wants to solve this by making their 'Travis the Interpreter' available now. The translation device understands, translates and speaks the 80 most spoken languages through artificial intelligence.
The inventors want to ensure that everyone on earth can communicate with each other, especially in this globalizing world. That is why they have created a universal translator that translates spoken sentences 'live'. Handy if you want to order a beer on holiday and indispensable if you end up in hospital while travelling. You can express yourself better and make connections faster.
No mobile app
The creators see the fact that Travis is a separate device, and not a mobile app, as an advantage because it means you don't have to open your phone all the time, which is so nice. Eye contact and non-verbal communication therefore remain possible, which is important for understanding each other. In addition, Travis's microphone is better than that of your telephone, so that the device also works in a busy pub. Offline, the device translates 23 languages, which many apps cannot do.
Smarter together
Travis is the first translation device with artificial intelligence, so it gets smarter the more you use it. It chooses the most appropriate translation software for each language combination: from large parties such as Google and Microsoft to those of local parties. Travis users will soon be able to indicate on a platform how they like translations, so that the translation device will work even better.
More information: www.travistranslator.com/nl/
Just a little while and we won't have to learn any language anymore. Too bad for the polyglots who show off their command of Thai or other rather inaccessible languages here. A math node is more and more preferable to a language node
You may also need to learn Thai.
Can you explain mathematically in Thai to your family how much they cost you.
You don't have to whine about it in every comment here
All the device does is select and use the 'best' existing app for a specific translation, for example Thai – English. Suppose it is Google Translator, then the device will choose the (free) Google app and use it.
I don't need a new device for that.
Nice development. Unfortunately, the website hardly provides any information. At least I couldn't find out what the device costs or whether Thai is one of the languages it speaks.
offline speaking, I mean. There are already good applications online.
USD 149 and the device also uses an App that translates Thai
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https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/travis-i-speak-80-languages-so-can-you-travel#/
Large tech companies such as Google and Microsoft have been developing the possibility for good real-time translation of normal conversations for years. So far they have not succeeded. Seems very difficult. So it is an illusion that this company can do it. They may make clever use of whatever is already there and tie it together. My doubts are great.
So not cheap at $149.
When I look at the results of google translate under English Dutch translations, I wait a while before purchasing translators with artificial intelligence.
Then the translators are at most useful for a conversation in the order of:
Three coffee.
Pay.
Where toilet?
Google translate is a handy dictionary by the way.
Should you try to translate thai with google translate, if your language is translated to thai while you are talking to someone you will have a fierce argument with them in no time.
You should use google translate from Dutch to Thai.
You're guaranteed to get into an argument with everyone here. So such a pocket-sized talent for languages, I would be very surprised
If you look at the existing apps, you will see that the translation works at most, with simple concepts, and single words. As soon as it comes to a complete sentence, you usually have to deal with another deviating grammar, which makes what you meant unintelligible, so that the interlocutor can only guess what you really mean. And if I understand correctly, this translator also works exclusively with these apps, which you can also find on every Smartphone, which also do not function optimally. Then ask me where the big advantage lies for the user?
When you yourself are able to speak Dutch well and clearly and not as you write: commas where they don't belong, no space after the comma, d instead of t, words separate from each other that have to be joined and a period for a question mark, maybe it will work.
If you already have trouble mastering your own language, you can't expect such a device to understand you, can you?
I think it's great progress. I myself speak three languages well and I can get by with about five other languages. That device would help me there.
It's a shame to read those negative comments over and over again.
It seems we never learn.
The world has changed so much because of all the possible inventions we embrace.
Why don't we give such a company a chance now and tear it down with our comments?
It's so easy to criticize from your couch, get up and do something yourself!
Kind regards Gerard
The fact remains that it is much too expensive and on top of that Google's TRANSLATE app works perfectly and is free if I use it, turn on the microphone and the Thai listens and understands it and so no problem.
Language is an extremely complex matter. Translation is therefore difficult, especially for a machine. Scientists have been working for many decades to write computer programs that make something reasonable out of it. In fact, little progress has been made, relatively trivial issues are still unresolved, and for the time being there are still more problems than solutions.
Travis would be the first translation device with artificial intelligence, but that is of course nonsense. In the first place, they only use pre-existing programs, in the second place, you can call any heuristic aid, or any rule that does not work completely brute force, artificially intelligent, and moreover, there are also 'artificially intelligent' programs that are completely don't get better by using them a lot.
An interesting lecture about the problems that people encounter can be found here (in English):
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https://youtu.be/6UVgFjJeFGY
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The same problems existed 30 years ago, and they are not going to be solved unless someone comes up with a groundbreaking idea.
What Travis' 'inventors' have done, while they would like to make it appear otherwise, is far from groundbreaking and creating high expectations will only result in disappointed customers.
Just for fun, Google translated this reaction into English, and then I was actually positively surprised. I sometimes think that the mess that Google makes of Thai messages from acquaintances is partly due to the fact that it is not Civilized Thai, but Isaan Thai (sorry, Isaan fans…).
Language is a very complex matter. Translation is therefore difficult, especially for a machine. Scientists have been busy writing computer programs for a number of decades. In fact, not so much progress has been made, relatively trivial issues are still not resolved and for the time being there are still more problems than solutions.
Travis would be the first translator with artificial intelligence, but that's of course nonsense. First of all, they only use existing programs, secondly, you can do any heuristic help, or any rule that does not work completely brute force, call artificial intelligence, and there are also “artificially intelligent” programs completely Do not get better by using them a lot.
An interesting lecture on the problems you encounter is found here (in English):
.
https://youtu.be/6UVgFjJeFGY
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30 years ago, the same problems have already been played, and they will not be solved unless someone gets a groundbreaking idea.
What Travis's 'suspects' have done, though, they obviously want to make a difference, certainly do not create groundbreaking and high expectations will only result in disappointed customers.
There was a major update to Google Translate a few months ago and I found it a lot better after that as well. Not perfect but they are well on their way.
Google is not too bad when you translate a word. Nothing wrong with it. As long as you use it as a dictionary.
Oddly enough, the bit "who bake something" has completely disappeared from the translation.
A translation program that simply omits pieces of text for the sake of convenience does not get a high score from me.
By the way, if you translate larger pieces of text with Google translate, you will notice that the program reacts very strangely.
Changes in previous sentences sometimes also modify a translation of a later sentence.
Moreover, the quality of the translation also seems to vary.
One time you get almost readable texts, and the next time pure nonsense.
See also these two sentences:
Scientists have been working for many decades to write computer programs that make something reasonable out of it.
Scientists have been busy writing computer programs for a number of decades.
They have been working for many decades to write computer programs that make something reasonable.
They have been busy writing computer programs for a number of decades, which are reasonable.
Replacing the word scientist with the word she changes the translation of the sentence.
I also noticed that omission. I can imagine that if the translation ended up with a word combination that does not appear in the entire database of the program, the chances are that that is nonsensical, that it would be better to leave it out.
In the translation with 'they', you also see that it is a huge problem to determine what a word such as 'that' refers to.
As the professor in the YouTube video also indicates, he has a job guarantee until his death (it really won't get much better before then) and the use of the translation programs is mainly to enable human translators to work more efficiently.
He estimates the annual revenue generated by translation programs at $100 million, while human translators and interpreters generate tens of billions.
For translations to and from Thai (from any language) it is a huge handicap that the This is written with consecutive words without spaces. This makes it virtually impossible for translation programs to produce good translations. Try to read a sentence with contiguous Dutch words and leave it in a translation machine with translation for example to English, I don't think you will get a good translation.
It's different with spaces in between!
I think it is in everyone's interest that the Thai will really change this.
Suggest that all Thais learn Dutch and German and English and French and Spanish and Chinese and Portuguese etc.
Language is simply part of the culture, if you want to participate in that you will have to make an effort to learn a language, then you will also learn a part of the culture. Don't you want that, good friends.
Even I was able to learn to read Thai and to recognize the words without a space between them is actually not difficult if you just apply the rules. That should be pretty easy for a computer. It seems more difficult to me that the meaning of a Thai sentence is very dependent on the context. For example, the verb is often omitted in the sentence, so the app has to guess who it is about. And when the person is mentioned by name, capital letters are missing, so how is the computer supposed to understand that Red, Rabbit, Little, Mouse are people?
Ps.: I have also noticed that since a few weeks Google translate omits things from the translation from Thai to English / Dutch.