Microsoft Patenting IM Translation?

theodp writes "The USPTO just published Microsoft's patent application for a Method and system for translating instant messages, in which the software giant demonstrates how an English-speaking sender can type 'Hi' in an IM and it will be translated to 'Hola' for a Spanish-speaking recipient."

Comments

Just hola, eh?

[haa...jesus christ]

It's gonna be tough if it can't translate any other words...

It will be a further abuse of the patent system

[RLiegh]

if microsoft is allowed to hold a monopoly on using methods to translate text from one language to another in IMs.

It's definately a sad day for capitalism, that's for sure!

Very true indeed.

[Samir Gupta]

Nintendo, SEGA, et al. have been working on this for quite some time now, and have even started to commercialize it. It's one of the emerging trends in MMORPG game design will create interesting interactions and facilitate global play to a greater extent than is now.

Some early results can be seen in the GameCube/DreamCast title "Phantasy Star Online" where you can select from a menu of sentence patterns, subjects, objects, etc. We're trying to get it to the point where you can translate free text, without the awkward results that stuff like Babelfish, et al. yield, maybe augmented by a player-aided cache of words and phrases, with improved using in-game human feedback and machine learning.

I am really looking forward to the time where international players freely interact -- it will be an interesting sociology experiement to see how national and cultural means, norms and paradigms manifest themselves in a virtual world.

Tip

[tomstdenis]

Learn some fucking English you half-wits. It be the easiests language yo mo-fo can learns.

I cants understand why the people split and speaks the other languages. Its like they be not trying hards enough.

-- Peace!