Inter-language translation device

• US 20030208352A1
• Filed: 04/23/2003
• Published: 11/06/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 04/24/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Polyglot Systems, Inc. (The Hearst Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Polyglot Systems, Inc. (The Hearst Corporation)
• Inventors: Lee, Chung-Suk Charles
• Granted Patent: US 7,359,861 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 704/2
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/55 Rule-based translation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/58 Use of machine translation, e.g. for multi-lingual retrieval, for server-side translation for client devices or for real-time translation

Abstract

A computer system with an appropriate set of instructions to allow the computer system to serve as a translation device for use in a structured interview between an interviewer using a first language and an interviewee in a second language in order to minimize or eliminate that need for a human translator during the acquisition of routine information. Problems addressed include: determination of the appropriate language for use as the second language, the use of a single display screen through the use of a toggle function to toggle from the first language to the second language, delivery of context sensitive audio files while controlling the number of screens to be created and presented to the interviewer, and the creation of a set of discharge instructions. A preferred set of hardware and a mobile cart is discussed.

Claims

1. A translation tool comprising a computer system in turn comprising:

A processor for processing instructions and data;

A set of at least one memory for the storage of instructions and data to be used by the processor;

A means for making the memory accessible to the processor;

At least one display;

At least one input device for receiving input choices from a first person with a first language preference;

At least one speaker for the playing of audio files corresponding to certain text choices presented on the at least one display in a first language corresponding to the first language preference, the audio files stored in a form accessible to the computer system so that the audio files can be selectively played on the at least one speaker;

A set of instructions stored in the at least one memory accessible to the processor;

The set of instructions including instructions sufficient to initiate the delivery of certain images to the at least one display and to receive input from the at least one input device to obtain at least one type of context information about a second person; and

The set of instructions including instructions sufficient for the computer system to receive a selection for a second language for the audio files so that the selection of a certain text string presented on the at least one display in the language of the first language preference causes the playing of a spoken audio file to be played on the at least one speaker where the spoken audio file is in the second language and deviates from the selected text string on the at least one display in that the spoken audio file includes a context adjustment based on at least one type of previously obtained context information about the second person.

2. The translation device of claim 1 wherein the set of instructions includes instructions sufficient to support a toggle feature to allow the display the text choices presented on the at least one display to toggle from the text in the first language to text in the second language.

3. The translation device of claim 1 wherein the set of instructions includes instructions sufficient to cause the display of an audio bar to provide a visual indicator of the length of the spoken audio file remaining to be played on the at least one speaker.

4. The translation tool of claim 1 wherein the computer system comprises a tablet computer and the at least one input device comprises a tablet input and at least one stylus.

5. The translation tool of claim 4 wherein:

the tablet computer is connected to a docking station when the at least one speaker plays the spoken audio file in the second language;

the at least one speaker is responsive to a volume control external to the tablet computer; and

at least one display is placed on a turntable to facilitate rotation of the display so that it can be rotated from a first position to a second position to facilitate viewing of the display by the first person at a first time and the second person at a second time.

6. The translation tool of claim 1 wherein the computer system has access to at least one printer for printing a written record of a set of interactions between the first person and the second person wherein the printed written record includes text in the second language.

7. The translation tool of claim 6 wherein the computer system has access to the at least one printer through a communication link to a computer network.

8. The translation tool of claim 1 wherein the translation tool is located on a mobile storage unit with a rechargeable battery that provides energy to at least one component of the computer system though a power cord while the at least one speaker plays the spoken audio file in the second language.

9. The translation tool of claim 8 wherein the computer system includes a printer located on the mobile storage unit and the set of instructions includes instructions sufficient to select a set of text units for printing on the printer for text units displayed for selection in the first language, where the printing of the text units comprises printing the text units in the second language.

10. The translation tool of claim 8 wherein:

the mobile storage unit has wheels to facilitate movement from a first location to a second location;

at least one display is placed on a turntable to facilitate rotation of the display so that it can be rotated from a first position to a second position to facilitate viewing of the display by the first person at a first time and the second person at a second time; and

the mobile storage unit has a first stylus tethered to a first position on the mobile storage unit and a second stylus tethered to a second position on the mobile storage unit.

11. The translation tool of claim 8 wherein a sequence of inputs to the translation tool initiates an audio communication session with a human translator over a communication link.

12. The translation tool of claim 1 wherein the translation tool more specifically comprises:

a first display used to display text in a language matching the first language preference;

a second display used to display text for choices in the second language for selection by the second person;

an input device associated with the first display for use by the first person;

a second input device associated with the second display for use by the second person;

the set of instructions including instructions sufficient to display a set of choices in the second language on the second display and display a corresponding set of choices on the first display in the first language preference; and

the set of instructions including instructions sufficient to receive input from the second input device and provide an indication of the selected choice on both the first display and the second display.

13. A method of using a translation system for facilitating an interview between an interviewer using a first language and an interviewee using a second language where the second language is not the first language, the method including a process of identification of a suitable language for use by the interviewee as the second language through:

A) presenting a set of language selection stimuli corresponding to various language choices to the interviewee;

B) providing an input selection to the translation system corresponding to a particular language selection stimuli and to a particular language; and

C) responding to the provided input selection by providing text over a speaker in the particular language to seek confirmation from the interviewee that the particular language is an appropriate language for use as the second language for subsequent communications to the interviewee.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the language selection stimuli comprises a set of national flags.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the set of language selection stimuli comprises a set of language/country pairs such that the input selection choices includes:

A first country and a first particular language;

The first country and a second particular language different from the first particular language;

A second country and a first variation of a third particular language; and

A third country and a second variation of the third particular language.

16. The method of claim 13 further comprising an initial step of selecting a region of the world followed by the step of presenting the set of language selection stimuli, where the language selection stimuli is limited to languages spoken in the selected region of the world.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein the initial step of a selection of a region of the world uses a displayed image of a map.

18. The method of claim 13 wherein the presenting of the set of language selection stimuli for various language choices is done using a computer display screen and the set of language selection stimuli is more than can be displayed at one time on the computer display screen and the set of language selection stimuli are arranged in accordance with some estimate of likelihood that the individual language selection stimuli will be selected.

19. A method of using a translation system for facilitating an interview between an interviewer using a first language and an interviewee using a second language where the second language is not the first language, the method including:

A) presenting a set of selection choices to the interviewee on a computer display screen using the second language for the displayed text;

B) providing an input selection to the translation system corresponding to a particular displayed selection chosen by the interviewee;

C) adjusting the displayed set of selection choices to indicate the entry of the input selection; and

D) toggling the display language from the second language to the first language to provide to the interviewer the presented set of selection choices in the first language and adjusting the displayed set of selection choices to indicate the particular displayed selection in the first language that corresponds to the particular displayed selection in the second language selected by the interviewee.

20. The method of using a translation system of claim 19 wherein the step of presenting the set of selection choices uses display screen integrated with a digitizer input device and the step of providing the input selection uses a stylus held by the interviewee.

21. A method of using a translation system for facilitating an interview between an interviewer using a first language and an interviewee using a second language where the second language is not the first language, the method including:

A) providing the translation system at least one piece of context information about the interviewee into the translation system;

B) providing the translation system with a particular language choice to be used as the second language;

C) displaying a set of text units on a computer display screen in the first language;

D) providing the translation system with a selection of a particular text unit from the displayed set of text units; and

E) sending an audio file to at least one speaker by the translation system where the played audio file corresponds to the particular text unit as translated from the first language to the second language and adjusted for the piece of previously provided context information.

22. The method of using a translation system of claim 21 wherein:

the step of providing the translation system at least one piece of context information about the interviewee includes providing;

1) the gender of the interviewee;

2) that the interviewee is going to present information about a subject that is some person other than the interviewee; and

3) the gender of the subject; and

the audio file sent to the at least one speaker by the translation system incorporates adjustments for the gender of the interviewee and the gender of the subject.

23. The method of using a translation system of claim 21 wherein the step of displaying the set of text units on a computer display screen in the first language provides a visual indication of least one piece of context information previously provided to the translation system, wherein the visual indication is not located within the set of displayed text units.

24. The method of using a translation system of claim 21 where the played audio file is created after the selection of the particular text from the displayed set of text units.

25. A method of using a translation system for facilitating an interview between an interviewer using a first language and an interviewee using a second language where the second language is not the first language, the method including:

A) displaying a set of text units on a computer display screen in the first language;

B) providing an input to the translation system to select a particular text unit from the displayed set of text units, the input designating the text unit for audio output;

C) providing an audio file to at least one speaker where the audio file contains a verbal instruction in the second language corresponding to the selected particular text unit;

D) providing an input to the translation system to designate the selected particular text unit for printing; and

E) printing the selected particular text unit in the second language.

26. The method of claim 25 wherein the step of providing the input to the translation system to select the particular text unit from the displayed set of text units serves to designate the text unit for both audio output and for printing.

27. The method of claim 26 wherein a text unit designated for printing may be selected to be no longer designated for printing.

28. The method of claim 25 wherein the text unit is designated for printing only once but is printed a second time such that one time the text unit is printed in the first language and one time the text unit is printed in the second language.

29. The method of claim 25 wherein the interviewer may select a template corresponding to a particular situation where the template has pre-designated a set of text units for printing such that the step of displaying the set of text units on a computer display screen in the first language includes an indication of the set of text units pre-designated for printing;

2) the step of providing the input to the translation system to select a particular text unit from the displayed set of text units, the input designating the text unit for audio output includes the step of deciding whether to select a pre-designated text unit for audio output; and

the method further comprises the step of deciding whether to select a text unit pre-designated for printing so that the selected text unit is no longer designated for printing.