[Infowarrior] - iPods In Combat (as translators)

[Richard Forno]

iPods In Combat
by James Dunnigan
August 27, 2008
http://www.strategypage.com/dls/articles/200882721413.asp

The U.S. military went into Iraq with few troops able to speak Arabic.  
Now they can use their iPods to do the talking for them. A new  
software product, VCommunicator Mobile, and a speaker than plugs into  
where the ear buds go, enables troops to quickly access a library of  
phrases. There is also a set of protective covers for the iPod and  
speaker, with Velcro straps so that you can attach both to your arm.

If all this sounds very soldier-friendly, that's because the product  
was designed with the help of troops from the 10th Mountain division,  
who have been using 260 of these specially equipped iPods for the last  
year. This cost the army $800,000, and included language modules for  
Iraqi Arabic (it's a distinct dialect) and Kurdish (an Indo-European  
language spoken in the north). There are also modules for languages  
spoken in Afghanistan (Dari and Pushto). Over 700 troops are using the  
device in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The VCommunicator Mobile software and libraries takes up four  
gigabytes per language, so it can be used on the smaller, and more  
rugged, Nano iPods. The software displays graphics, showing either the  
phrase in Arabic, or a video of a soldier making the appropriate hand  
gesture (there are a lot of those in Arabic.) There are collections of  
phrases for specific situations, like checkpoint, raid or patrol. You  
can use any accessory made for the iPod, like larger displays or  
megaphones.

The army has been developing translation devices like this since 2001.  
All previous ones needed a laptop or PDA (a device being made obsolete  
by more powerful cell phones). The VCommunicator Mobile approach took  
advantage of the fact that most troops had iPods and knew how to  
operate them. That saved a lot of training time. It was also  
discovered that many Iraqis were familiar with iPods, or had their  
own. They were fascinated by this use of the iPod, and this helped  
break the tension. While the translation is one way, but asking for  
"yes/no" answers, or directions (to an arms cache, a wanted man, or  
someone in need of medical help), the VCommunicator Mobile worked  
quite well.

While troops quickly pick up a basic vocabulary of phrases, the  
VCommunicator Mobile accelerates the process, as troops can use it to  
help them learn more Arabic (or Dari or Phusto). VCommunicator Mobile  
also comes with an editor, that runs on a laptop, enabling troops to  
edit their libraries, adding new phrases or reorganizing them.

The army has found that the troops can handle a lot of technology, if  
the stuff is actually useful. In that case, soldiers will often buy  
stuff with their own money. Not so much with VCommunicator Mobile, as  
it costs $2,000 to have an iPod loaded with just one language. The  
army has also provided a solar recharger for the iPods of troops  
spending a lot of time out in the hills of Afghanistan.