Cross-language communication between proximate mobile devices

摘要

A system facilitates cross-language communication among users of respective wireless communication devices. Two or more mutually-agreeing users establish and participate in a cross-language communication session, without revealing private information, such as their telephone numbers. Once the session has been established, each user enters text into her wireless communication device, and a translated version of the entered text is displayed on a screen of the other user's wireless communication device. The text may be entered, such as by typing on a keyboard on the wireless communication device or by speaking inputs into a microphone and automatically recognizing the speech. Optionally, the translated text may be spoken by a speech synthesizer. No permanent information about the participants need be stored in the respective wireless communication devices, so once the communication session ends, no further communication between or among the participants is possible, without establishing another session, thereby preserving each user's privacy.

主权项

1. A computer-implemented method for facilitating cross-language communication among users of respective wireless communication devices, the method comprising:
receiving, at a first of the wireless communication devices, a first user input indicating willingness to participate in a cross-language communication session with a second of the wireless communication devices; receiving, at the second wireless communication device, a second user input indicating willingness to participate in the cross-language communication session with the first wireless communication device; receiving, at the first wireless communication device, a first signal from a first sensor of the first wireless communication device, other than an antenna; receiving, at the second wireless communication device, a second signal from a second sensor of the second wireless communication device, other than an antenna; automatically comparing the first signal to the second signal to determine whether the first signal and the second signal satisfy a similarity criterion; if the first and second signals satisfy the similarity criterion, automatically establishing the cross-language communication session; and if the cross-language communication session is established:
after receiving the first and second user inputs, receiving a first user message entered on the first wireless communication device in a first natural language;automatically generating a translated first user message, including translating the first user message into a second natural language, different than the first natural language; andoutputting the translated first user message on the second wireless communication device.