Verbmobil - Translation of Face-To-Face Dialogs

Verbmobil is a long-term project on the translation of spontaneous language in negotiation dialogs. We describe the goals of the project, the chosen discourse domains and the initial project schedule. We discuss some of the distinguishing features of Verbmobil and introduce the notion of translation on demand and variable depth of processing in speech translation. Finally, the role of anytime modules for efficient dialog translation in close to real time is described. The long-term vision behind the project Verbmobil is a portable translation device that you can carry to a meeting with speakers of other foreign languages and it will translate what you say for them. Figure 1. English as the Common Dialog Language in Verbmobil This very ambitious scientific goal will be pursued in a series of well-defined project phases. The first versions of Verbmobil will provide translation on demand for the two participants who have a passive knowledge of English but of which neither is a fluent speaker. We assume that most of the dialog will be conducted in English as a common dialog language. This is a realistic assumption for most international technical or business discussions. But for uncommon words or phrases, complex constructions and critical segments of the negotiation dialog the participants may want to switch back to their native language. This means that they need translation help and therefore turn to their