Our Heritage: Building on a Record of Rapid Response

The concept of machine-based translation is not a recent development. The pursuit of technology that allows for universal translation of any combination of words, sounds or phonemes has been ongoing for nearly 50 years. However, even after decades of intense research, advances in this complex area have been minuscule.

Voxtec took a different approach by focusing on what users needed most: A simple, functional solution that would overcome language barriers in critical situations through the translation of a specific set of phrases. By redefining the problem to one of phrase recognition and generation rather than phoneme recognition and universal text translation, Voxtec dramatically simplified the solution.

This concept of phrase-based translation emerged from a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant awarded to Marine Acoustics, Inc. (MAI), of which Voxtec was formerly a division, in January 2001 to develop a handheld Phrase Translation System (PTS).

The crisis of September 11, 2001, rapidly accelerated the systems development, as U.S. military personnel deployed overseas urgently needed translation systems to act as force multipliers. The product that Voxtec’s Founder, Ace Sarich personally delivered inside Afghanistan in January 2002 was the Phraselator® Model 1100, which was deployed overseas in support of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF).

Throughout the past several years, Voxtec has continued to advance and streamline its speech-to-speech translation technology. The Phraselator® P2 handheld system has been refined significantly, while Voxtec developed and launched a companion product in the tactical, wearable, hands free, eyes free SQU.ID® SQ.200.

Voxtec has made an equally important contribution to language translation advancement: through our language module software technology. With Voxtec Module Builder PRO™ software, Voxtec customers have the power to create, record and deploy their own custom phrase-based language modules to meet specific situations and communication challenges.

What’s on the horizon: Building on excellence in one-way phrase-based communication to produce systems capable of two-way translation.