Pi-Speech: Translating Done Easy!
Format
SOECS Senior Project Demonstration
Faculty Mentor Name
Michael Canniff
Faculty Mentor Department
Computer Science
Abstract/Artist Statement
Pi-Speech: Translating Done Easy!
Within the last 10 years cloud based server technologies have lowered and sometimes even eliminated boundaries between various cultures around the world. Two of the more notable boundaries that we have crossed have been our ability to communicate with each other over long distances and our ability to understand each other. The cloud-based Google Translate service has been instrumental in our ability to understand one another regardless of culture or language. And with this technology, tools have been developed to help Google Translate the ease of access so that most people in the developed world can use these services with little to no problems. Laptops and phones can be used with Google Translate to help anyone understand a language that they haven’t been taught or exposed to. The problem with these two devices, is that they are not dedicated hardware solutions to the task at hand. Sometimes people need a dedicated hardware solution so that multiple people can use that very same device for the same goal. And one may think “Dedicated hardware solutions already exist for this problem!” and this is correct. But often these solutions are quite expensive, and require a phone to connect to them, which still has a non dedicated device as a requirement. Our proposal is to make a dedicated device that only needs its own hardware and an internet connection to operate, all offered for a very low cost (less than half of the average price of store bought universal translators). Two people with headsets would be able to communicate with each other with a raspberry pi being the intermediary computer. One person talks into the headset, the speech is then translated and voiced in the other person’s headset in their chosen language. Alternatively, the translation can be voiced on a speaker. The raspberry pi will make this device connect universally to almost any audio device or input device on hand, making the setup easy and flexible. It’s designed to be intuitive and fit within many people’s budgets.
Location
Virtual
Start Date
25-4-2020 2:00 PM
End Date
25-4-2020 4:00 PM
Pi-Speech: Translating Done Easy!
Virtual
Pi-Speech: Translating Done Easy!
Within the last 10 years cloud based server technologies have lowered and sometimes even eliminated boundaries between various cultures around the world. Two of the more notable boundaries that we have crossed have been our ability to communicate with each other over long distances and our ability to understand each other. The cloud-based Google Translate service has been instrumental in our ability to understand one another regardless of culture or language. And with this technology, tools have been developed to help Google Translate the ease of access so that most people in the developed world can use these services with little to no problems. Laptops and phones can be used with Google Translate to help anyone understand a language that they haven’t been taught or exposed to. The problem with these two devices, is that they are not dedicated hardware solutions to the task at hand. Sometimes people need a dedicated hardware solution so that multiple people can use that very same device for the same goal. And one may think “Dedicated hardware solutions already exist for this problem!” and this is correct. But often these solutions are quite expensive, and require a phone to connect to them, which still has a non dedicated device as a requirement. Our proposal is to make a dedicated device that only needs its own hardware and an internet connection to operate, all offered for a very low cost (less than half of the average price of store bought universal translators). Two people with headsets would be able to communicate with each other with a raspberry pi being the intermediary computer. One person talks into the headset, the speech is then translated and voiced in the other person’s headset in their chosen language. Alternatively, the translation can be voiced on a speaker. The raspberry pi will make this device connect universally to almost any audio device or input device on hand, making the setup easy and flexible. It’s designed to be intuitive and fit within many people’s budgets.