Microsoft continues breaking the language barrier by giving Skype users more tools for translating chats and calls. The latest Skype update introduces real-time translation for video calls with your personal voice (TruVoice), allowing your interlocutor to hear the translation as you would speak it. It is a technology Microsoft demoed eight years ago, and now it is available for all customers for free.
TruVoice is a big step for Skype in its mission to let people communicate with those whose language they do not know. Now you can ditch robotic voices and enjoy translation that sounds just like the person you are talking to.
The AI that powers the feature uses several tools to do its magic. Microsoft says Skype Translator combines speech recognition with natural language processing, then samples your words to tune the translation and make it sound like you, achieving a more comfortable and human-like conversation.
Microsoft also lets you disable the TruVoice feature and switch to standard robotic voices. You can see how the two options compare in the video below:
The new translation capabilities in Skype support English, Spanish, French, German, Chinese, and other languages. For now, TruVoice is available only in one-to-one calls, but Microsoft promises to upgrade group calls and Telephony in the next few months.
You can learn more about real-time translations with your personal voice in a post on the official Skype Blog.