<s>
The	O
Phraselator	B-General_Concept
is	O
a	O
weatherproof	O
handheld	O
language	O
translation	B-Application
device	O
developed	O
by	O
Applied	O
Data	O
Systems	O
and	O
VoxTec	O
,	O
a	O
former	O
division	O
of	O
the	O
military	O
contractor	O
Marine	O
Acoustics	O
,	O
located	O
in	O
Annapolis	O
,	O
Maryland	O
,	O
USA	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Phraselator	B-General_Concept
is	O
a	O
small	O
speech	O
translation	B-Application
PDA-sized	O
device	O
designed	O
to	O
aid	O
in	O
interpretation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
device	O
does	O
not	O
produce	O
synthesized	B-Application
speech	I-Application
like	O
that	O
utilized	O
by	O
Stephen	O
Hawking	O
;	O
instead	O
,	O
it	O
plays	O
pre-recorded	O
foreign	O
language	O
MP3	B-Application
files	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
then	O
uses	O
speech	B-Application
recognition	I-Application
technology	I-Application
called	O
DynaSpeak	O
,	O
developed	O
by	O
SRI	O
International	O
,	O
to	O
play	O
the	O
proper	O
sound	O
file	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
accuracy	O
of	O
the	O
speech	B-Application
recognition	I-Application
software	I-Application
is	O
over	O
70	O
percent	O
according	O
to	O
software	O
developer	O
Jack	O
Buchanan	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
device	O
can	O
also	O
record	O
replies	O
for	O
translation	B-Application
later	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Pre-recorded	O
phrases	O
are	O
stored	O
on	O
Secure	B-Device
Digital	I-Device
flash	B-Device
memory	I-Device
cards	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Earlier	O
devices	O
were	O
known	O
to	O
have	O
run	O
on	O
an	O
SA-1110	O
Strong	O
Arm	O
206MHz	O
CPU	O
with	O
32MB	O
SDRAM	O
and	O
32MB	O
onboard	O
Flash	B-Device
RAM	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Developer	O
Ace	O
Sarich	O
notes	O
that	O
the	O
device	O
is	O
inferior	O
to	O
human	O
interpreter	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
was	O
not	O
necessarily	O
present	O
with	O
the	O
Phraselator	B-General_Concept
as	O
all	O
parties	O
abandoned	O
learning	O
about	O
each	O
other	O
and	O
instead	O
focused	O
on	O
learning	O
how	O
to	O
work	O
with	O
the	O
device	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
a	O
tool	O
for	O
bridging	O
any	O
cultural	O
differences	O
or	O
communicating	O
effectively	O
at	O
any	O
length	O
,	O
the	O
Phraselator	B-General_Concept
would	O
not	O
be	O
recommended	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
original	O
idea	O
for	O
the	O
device	O
came	O
from	O
Lee	O
Morin	O
,	O
a	O
Navy	O
doctor	O
in	O
Operation	B-Application
Desert	I-Application
Storm	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
During	O
its	O
development	O
,	O
the	O
Phraselator	B-General_Concept
was	O
tested	O
and	O
evaluated	O
by	O
scientists	O
from	O
the	O
Army	O
Research	O
Laboratory	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
2002	O
,	O
about	O
500	O
Phraselators	B-General_Concept
were	O
built	O
for	O
soldiers	O
around	O
the	O
world	O
with	O
another	O
250	O
ordered	O
by	O
the	O
U.S.	O
Special	O
Forces	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
the	O
time	O
,	O
the	O
only	O
existing	O
two-way	O
voice	O
translator	O
that	O
could	O
convert	O
speech	O
back	O
and	O
forth	O
between	O
languages	O
was	O
the	O
Audio	O
Voice	O
Translation	B-Application
Guide	O
System	O
,	O
or	O
TONGUES	O
,	O
which	O
was	O
developed	O
by	O
Carnegie	O
Mellon	O
University	O
for	O
Lockheed	O
Martin	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
part	O
of	O
a	O
DARPA	O
program	O
known	O
as	O
the	O
Spoken	O
Language	O
Communication	O
and	O
Translation	B-Application
System	I-Application
for	O
Tactical	O
Use	O
,	O
SRI	O
International	O
has	O
further	O
developed	O
two-way	O
translation	B-Application
software	I-Application
for	O
use	O
in	O
Iraq	O
called	O
IraqComm	B-General_Concept
in	O
2006	O
which	O
contains	O
a	O
vocabulary	O
of	O
40,000	O
English	O
words	O
and	O
50,000	O
words	O
in	O
Iraqi	O
Arabic	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Several	O
Native	O
American	O
tribes	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
Choctaw	O
Nation	O
,	O
the	O
Ponca	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
Comanche	B-Application
Nation	I-Application
have	O
also	O
used	O
the	O
device	O
to	O
preserve	O
their	O
dying	O
languages	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Various	O
law	O
enforcement	O
agencies	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
Los	O
Angeles	O
Police	O
Department	O
,	O
also	O
use	O
the	O
phraselator	B-General_Concept
in	O
their	O
patrol	O
cars	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Software	O
developer	O
Jack	O
Buchanan	O
believes	O
that	O
building	O
a	O
device	O
similar	O
to	O
the	O
fictional	O
universal	O
translator	O
seen	O
in	O
Star	B-Operating_System
Trek	I-Operating_System
would	O
be	O
harder	O
than	O
building	O
the	O
Enterprise	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
device	O
was	O
mentioned	O
in	O
a	O
list	O
of	O
"	O
Top	O
10	O
Star	B-Operating_System
Trek	I-Operating_System
Tech	O
"	O
on	O
Space.com	O
.	O
</s>
