Automatic Language Translation for Mobile SMS

In: International journal of information communication technologies and human development: IJICTHD ; an official publication of the Information Resources Management Association, Band 2, Heft 1, S. 43-58

Abstract

In any form of communication it is vital that both parties can understand the same language, if they cannot a translator is required. Currently mobile users engage the service of a third party provider to translate an SMS text into a different language. The existing services have a number of drawbacks e.g. high cost to the user, not user friendly, they reduce the message space, and are inefficient. To communicate with a foreign person the sender must know the recipients preferred language and device display capability. What is needed is a service where a sender can send message in their native language without regard for the target tongue. We show that a mobile operator can provide a transparent service where the text message is automatically converted to the recipients preferred language. In comparison to the existing system, our implementation is efficient and cost effective and has large implications for commerce, language learning and person-to-person communication. A large number of services such as health care management, education, emergency notification, news, weather, and traffic reports and commerce applications can be delivered to vast mobile populations who are not able to enjoy the benefit of these services due to language barriers.