Information technologies have fundamentally changed human communication in the past 25 years, and have brought the world closer together. Even so, it continues to be important to overcome barriers – physical borders, different languages and cultures, and a lack of medical care and education. On July 14 and 15, the symposium titled “Building Bridges – Breaking Barriers” will present the latest developments in language and translation technologies, medical applications, neural networks, multimodal interfaces, dialog processing, and intelligent interaction with machines and robots at Baden-Baden Kurhaus. The “interACT” research network is celebrating its 25th birthday with the symposium. It was founded by the then University of Karlsruhe, now the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), and the Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), Pittsburgh, USA.
Leading scientists from around the world and representatives from industry and politics will talk about the current state of research, as well as scientific breakthroughs and their implementation and specific application.
One of the topics covered at the symposium is automatic translation, one of the main areas of research of Alexander Waibel, a professor at KIT and CMU, and the director of interACT. Whether it's the automatic translation of lectures for foreign students, support for translators at the European Parliament, or the translation of telephone calls, the possible applications are virtually limitless. The topic will be looked at from various angles in short presentations and panel discussions. An exhibition featuring live demonstrations provides the option for attendees to try out technologies (see “Language/Translation Technology” and “Interpretation” sections in the program below).
You will find the detailed program of the symposium at: www.interact25.org.
The “international center for Advanced Communication Technologies (interACT)”
The task of interACT is to develop advanced communication technologies, robotics and artificial intelligence. Starting off as an informal collaboration between two partners, it has now grown into a center with partners which are among the leading information technology institutions worldwide:
- Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Karlsruhe, Germany
- Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, USA
- National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, Nara, Japan
- Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan
- Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, China
- University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA
- Italian Institute of Technology, Genoa, Italy
- Institute of Science and Technology, Nara, Japan
In close partnership with society, KIT develops solutions for urgent challenges – from climate change, energy transition and sustainable use of natural resources to artificial intelligence, sovereignty and an aging population. As The University in the Helmholtz Association, KIT unites scientific excellence from insight to application-driven research under one roof – and is thus in a unique position to drive this transformation. As a University of Excellence, KIT offers its more than 10,000 employees and 22,800 students outstanding opportunities to shape a sustainable and resilient future. KIT – Science for Impact.