VoiceTra(Voice Translator)

A speech translator for travel and visitors

VoiceTra is a speech translation app from NICT, the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology. It covers 33 languages and is listed as free to download and use.

The developer pitches it at travellers, and at people who want to welcome visitors to Japan.

How spoken phrases become translated speech

You speak, and the app recognizes the speech, translates it into the target language, and outputs the result as synthesized voice. The developer says each step uses speech recognition, translation and speech synthesis technology developed by NICT.

Because the translation is played back as speech, it can be heard rather than read.

Two-person conversations on one device

The translation direction can be switched instantly, so two people who speak different languages can talk through a single device. Each side speaks in their own language and hears the other's words translated.

Typing input and checking translations

Languages that lack speech input can be typed instead. The listing also says the interface lets you check whether a translation result is correct.