Xerox Corp, Hartford, Connecticut, claims to have the industry’s first machine translation interface software that enables entire documents to be translated while retaining charts and graphics in their original form. The capability is significant in the foreign language technology market, Xerox reckons, because users will no longer have to recreate non-textual matter after machine translation. Called the Xerox ViewPoint Machine Translation Interface, the software was designed primarily for users that work with substantial volumes of material to be translated, particularly material that is technical or repetitive or that has many charts and graphics. When the Xerox interface and the Systran translation software, developed by Systran Machine Translation Systems Inc, are used together, users can achieve translation quality with up to 95% accuracy prior to their own editing of the translated material. The Xerox software provides an interface from Xerox 6085 workstations to an IBM-compatible mainframe computer running customised Xerox applications software and Systran translation software. Current software capabilities translate English into German, French, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese. The ViewPoint Machine Translation Interface is available immediately in the US for $3,500. Systems solutions can be tailored to each customer’s requirements by the Xerox Custom Systems.
