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Interpreters & Technology

“It is in language that expectation and fulfillment make contact.”¹
– Ludwig Wittgenstein

Silkross ensures the interpreting team is directly connected to your conference activities, enabling each speaker and attendee to paint a complete picture of the conference, depicted in the words of their very own language—whether it’s a continuous back‑and‑forth discussion or a dynamic conference.

Our preliminary considerations

Interpreters need a secure and protected environment where they can work freely and uninterrupted. An interpreter booth provides an appropriate space for this. We use portable booths. The number of conference interpreters (the size and structure of the interpreting team) is determined by the language combinations needed in the team, the topic, and the length of the conference. Only when the interpreting team has been formed can we finalize the number of interpreting booths and workstations required. There are typically two workstations per language combination.

The basic elements of Our interpreting technology

• The interpreters’ workstations
• The transmission of the interpretation
• The requirements—what is the international level to be maintained in which rooms and areas and for how long

Simultaneous transmission of the interpretation

The speakers and audience receive their interpreted language version via one of the following means of transmission:

Portable, on site

The conference room is equipped with invisible infrared light, which serves as a carrier for the audio information. The speakers and guests select their language on their conference receiver. In one alternative, transmission is done via UHF radio communication.

Spoken during a theater performance or movie screening

Simultaneous interpretation is provided via a public address system or directly for each person using headphones. The original sound remains audible in the background. Theatrical inter­preters are not only concerned with the specifics of the production and the vernacular translation of a piece, they are also sensitive to the perceptions, previous experiences, and listening habits of the audience.

Using a microphone system

A microphone system with integrated language channel selectors is connected directly to the interpreting system, forming a closed conference system.

Other conference systems

If you are organizing a multilingual video or remote conference, simultaneous interpreters can be inte­grated directly into the proceedings at each conference location. The conference locations are connected to the sites of the other interpreting systems in a secure system network. This method is also suitable in cases where there is limited space in the conference room. The interpreters then interpret directly in the inter­preter booth from a separate interpreters room.

Transcribed interpreting

In interpreting into written form, the spoken words are reproduced directly as summarized text and incorporated into the visuals of the presentation using specific screens or as sub­titles. Interpreters providing output in written form only work in one language. Conference interpreters, however, orally translate the spoken words and the content of the conversation directly into the agreed‑upon target languages.

Keeping a record

If you would like to have a multilingual video recording, you can select the language channels for the original video from a context menu. In many cases, however, a multilingual audio recording is sufficient.

Direct & immediate

During in‑person meetings, linguists act as escort interpreters. No technology is needed for this form of interpretation. Interpreters speak directly to the person they are interpreting for.