Performance Assessments of Two-Way, Free-Form, Speech-to-Speech Translation Systems for Tactical Use

Published

October 20, 2010

Author(s)

Brian A. Weiss, Craig I. Schlenoff

Abstract

A critical challenge for military personnel when operating in foreign countries is effective communication with the local population. To address this issue, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) created the Spoken Language Communication and Translation Systems for Tactical Use (TRANSTAC) program. The program's goal is to develop speech-to-speech translation technologies enabling English-speakers to quickly communicate with the local population without an interpreter. DARPA has funded the National Institutes of Standards and Technology to lead the design and implementation of the TRANSTAC performance evaluations. This paper will present these evaluations which enabled the collection of rich quantitative and qualitative metrics.

Proceedings Title

Proceedings of the 2010 International Test and Evaluation Association (ITEA) Annual Symposium

Conference Dates

September 13-16, 2010

Conference Location

Glendale, AZ

Pub Type

Conferences

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Keywords

Performance evaluation, TRANSTAC, speech-to-speech translation systems, military technology, SCORE

Citation

Weiss, B. and Schlenoff, C. (2010), Performance Assessments of Two-Way, Free-Form, Speech-to-Speech Translation Systems for Tactical Use, Proceedings of the 2010 International Test and Evaluation Association (ITEA) Annual Symposium, Glendale, AZ, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=906663 (Accessed October 8, 2025)