On-Demand Language Translation for Television Programs

Abstract

A method, a system and a machine-readable medium are provided for an on demand translation service. A translation module including at least one language pair module for translating a source language to a target language may be made available for use by a subscriber. The subscriber may be charged a fee for use of the requested on demand translation service or may be provided use of the on demand translation service for free in exchange for displaying commercial messages to the subscriber. A video signal may be received including information in the source language, which may be obtained as text from the video signal and may be translated from the source language to the target language by use of the translation module. Translated information, based on the translated text, may be added into the received video signal.

We claim as our invention: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 performing speech recognition on audio data in a signal, the audio data being in a source language;   charging a fee to a requestor for a translation capability during a paid-for period, after which the translation capability expires, the requestor seeking translation of the signal from the source language to a target language;   generating translated audio data in the target language based on the audio data in the source language and translated text in the target language based on text information in the signal, wherein the text information is in the source language; and   embedding the translated audio data and the translated text in a video portion of the signal to yield a translated signal.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the fee is based on an amount of time an on-demand translation service performing the charging and the generating is to be made available to the requestor. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the fee is based on a pair of the source language and the target language. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein a set-top box generates the translated text, and wherein the set-top box receives the signal and outputs the translated audio data embedded with the translated text. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 translating of the text information from the source language to the target language is performed in a device configured to (1) receive the signal comprising the audio data and the text information in the source language and (2) to output the translated signal with the translated audio data and the translated text in the target language.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 storing a plurality of signals comprising a plurality of audio data and a plurality of text information in the source language, wherein:   generating of the translated signal further comprises:
 introducing a delay between receiving the plurality of signals and delivering one of the plurality of signals by looking ahead to one of the plurality of signals received after the audio data currently being processed. 
   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 generating the translated signal is performed in a processing device remotely located from a display device, wherein the display device is configured to receive the translated signal via a network.   
     
     
         8 . A system comprising:
 a processor; and   a computer-readable storage medium storing instructions, which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
 performing speech recognition on audio data in a signal, the audio data being in a source language; 
 charging a fee to a requestor for a translation capability during a paid-for period, after which the translation capability expires, the requestor seeking translation of the signal from the source language to a target language; 
 generating translated audio data in the target language based on the audio data in the source language and translated text in the target language based on text information in the signal, wherein the text information is in the source language; and 
 embedding the translated audio data and the translated text in a video portion of the signal to yield a translated signal. 
   
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the fee is based on an amount of time an on-demand translation service performing the charging and the generating is to be made available to the requestor. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the fee is based on a pair of the source language and the target language. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein a set-top box generates the translated text, and wherein the set-top box receives the signal and outputs the translated audio data embedded with the translated text. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein:
 translating of the text information from the source language to the target language is performed in one of a laptop computer, a notebook computer and a desktop computer configured to (1) receive the signal comprising the audio data and the text information in the source language and (2) to output the translated signal with the translated audio data and the translated text in the target language.   
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the computer-readable storage medium stores additional instructions, which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising further comprising:
 storing a plurality of signals comprising a plurality of audio data and a plurality of text information in the source language, wherein generating the translated signal further comprises introducing a delay between receiving the plurality of signals and delivering one of the plurality of signals by looking ahead to one of the plurality of signals received after the audio data currently being processed.   
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein:
 generating the translated signal is performed in a processing device remotely located from a display device, wherein the display device is configured to receive the translated signal via a network.   
     
     
         15 . A computer-readable storage device storing instructions for controlling a computing device to process a request for resources within a compute environment, the instructions, when extracted by the computing device, cause the computing device to perform operations comprising:
 performing speech recognition on audio data in a signal, the audio data being in a source language;   charging a fee to a requestor for a translation capability during a paid-for period, after which the translation capability expires, the requestor seeking translation of the signal from the source language to a target language;   generating translated audio data in the target language based on the audio data in the source language and translated text in the target language based on text information in the signal, wherein the text information is in the source language; and   embedding the translated audio data and the translated text in a video portion of the signal to yield a translated signal.   
     
     
         16 . The computer-readable storage device of  claim 15 , wherein the fee is based on an amount of time an on-demand translation service performing the charging and the generating is to be made available to the requestor. 
     
     
         17 . The computer-readable storage device of  claim 15 , wherein the fee is based on a pair of the source language and the target language. 
     
     
         18 . The computer-readable storage device of  claim 15 , wherein a set-top box generates the translated text, and wherein the set-top box receives the signal and outputs the translated audio data embedded with the translated text. 
     
     
         19 . The computer-readable storage device of  claim 15 , wherein:
 translating of the text information from the source language to the target language is performed in a device configured to (1) receive the signal comprising the audio data and the text information in the source language and (2) to output the translated signal with the translated audio data and the translated text in the target language.   
     
     
         20 . The computer-readable storage device of  claim 15 , wherein the computer-readable storage device stores additional instructions, which, when executed by the computing device, cause the computing device to perform operations comprising further comprising further comprising:
 storing a plurality of signals comprising a plurality of audio data and a plurality of text information in the source language, wherein generating of the translated signal further comprises introducing a delay between receiving the plurality of signals and delivering one of the plurality of signals by looking ahead to one of the plurality of signals received after the audio data currently being processed.