Microsoft shows off prototype automatic voice translator

Microsoft demoed a "translating-telephone" recently, at this year's TechFest, in Redmond Washington. It is shown in the video below.

The system ties together a few key familiar technologies, such as a voice recognition and text-to-speech software, into one tool that can be used to easily communicate with folks who don't speak the same language as you.

The system is not fool-proof, just because of the huge variance and intricacies of human speech, but it is a very promising prototype product. Although it will be a long time before you'll be able to have a natural conversation with someone of a foreign language using this device, it certainly will not be very long until you'll be able to at least get your point across to someone of a different language, without having to resort to actually spending years of your life studying a language.