Google will soon add a new feature for its Android Google Translate App that will allow for real-time transcription and translation of one language into another like an actual human translator, announced at an AI event in San Fransisco.
Real-time transcription is currently in the prototype stage, but Google says it’s scheduled to start rolling out for Android phones in the next few months of 2020. The company didn’t mention when an iOS version might be available to iPhone users.
The feature will require an Internet connection at launch because real-time multilingual transcription is more complicated than simply translating written text from one language to another or inputting single sentences of speech and rendering them into text in a different language. The transcribe feature will review the sentences, correcting choice of words and adding punctuation, Verge reported.
The transcribe mode has been developed by Google to translate long-form speeches. As the reports say, transcribe mode will have to be live audio captured through a smart-phone microphone. The feature will not work with audio files but can use audio files to play and capture through a speaker.
The feature understands the context of the speech, will add punctuation and will correct word choices based on context for the translation.