NECがPDAサイズの英日双方向翻訳機を開発
NECがPDAサイズの英日双方向翻訳機を開発し，数ヶ月後に売り出される。発話を音声認識してテキストにコンバートし，そのテキストを翻訳してから音声化するまで約1秒かかる。NECではすでに中国語版について開発を開始しているが，システムをトレーニングするのに約100の違った声を認識させる必要があるという。
It consists of three components - a speech recognition engine, translation software and a voice generator. Spoken English or Japanese is recognised and converted into text by the speech recognition engine. The text is then converted from Japanese to English or the other way by translation software and the resulting text is vocalised by a voice synthesiser. The entire process takes about one second.
Okumura told New Scientist that NEC has started working on a version that translates between Japanese and Chinese. In order to work for another language the system must be trained to recognise native speakers. About 100 different voices are required to train the system, he says.
