Foreign Language Service Apparatus for Bidirectional Translation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current foreign language service assisting technologies face challenges in facilitating smooth conversations between individuals speaking different languages, particularly in sales contexts, as they struggle to accurately interpret and respond to requests for articles or services, leading to incomplete or unsatisfactory interactions.
Innovation Solution
A foreign language service assisting apparatus that includes a first acquisition unit for acquiring initial article information, a second acquisition unit for obtaining associated article information, a translation unit for translating key phrases, and a presentation unit for displaying translated information, allowing users to select articles or subsequent speech candidates, thereby enabling effective communication across language barriers.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a conversation assisting apparatus translates speech of only one person, then translation function is achieved, but conversation continuity is lost when customers want to express answers other than presented options
Solution Approach 1:
The system introduces an intermediary translation device that mediates between the sales assistant's Japanese speech and the customer's Chinese responses. The translation unit translates not only the assistant's speech but also the customer's responses, enabling bidirectional communication while maintaining conversation flow and allowing customers to express answers beyond predefined options.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adapts the translation direction and content based on conversation flow. It switches between translating assistant-to-customer and customer-to-assistant speech, and dynamically generates subsequent speech candidates based on context, making the translation function flexible and adaptive to varying conversation needs.
2Ease of operation
If the system presents limited options like Yes/No or map selections, then simple interaction is achieved, but conversation stops when customers wish to give other answers
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary action by pre-translating and presenting subsequent speech candidates before the customer needs to respond. This allows customers to see available options in advance while still maintaining the ability to express other answers, thus keeping conversation flowing without limiting customer expression.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback by translating and presenting the customer's actual responses back to the sales assistant, creating a closed-loop communication system. This feedback mechanism ensures conversation continuity by allowing the assistant to understand and respond to customer answers regardless of whether they match predefined options.
3Reliability
If voice input system is designed for native speakers, then system performance is optimized, but foreign language customers cannot input their voices
Solution Approach 1:
The system achieves universality by incorporating translation functionality that handles multiple languages (Japanese and Chinese). The translation unit can translate speech from either language, making the voice input system accessible to foreign language customers while maintaining optimized performance for native speakers through the original voice recognition capabilities.
4Measurement precision
If the system translates and presents article information, then communication accuracy is improved, but information processing time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies preliminary action by pre-translating and preparing subsequent speech candidates and article information in advance before they are needed in the conversation. This reduces real-time processing delays while maintaining translation accuracy, as the translation work is performed proactively rather than reactively during the conversation flow.
Data Source
AI summary
According to one embodiment, a foreign language service assisting apparatus is provided with first and second acquisition units, a translation unit, a presentation unit and an accepting unit. The first acquisition unit acquires first information on a first article. The second acquisition unit acquires second information on second articles associated with the first article, and subsequent speech candidates expected to be spoken, based on the first information. The translation unit translates the first information, the second information, and the candidates. The presentation unit presents translation result. The accepting unit accepts selection associated with the first or second articles or the candidate.