Verbmobil : translation of face-to-face dialogs

Verbmobil is a long-term project on the translation of spontaneous language in negotiation dialogs. We describe the goals of the project, the chosen discourse domains and the initial project schedule. We discuss some of the distinguishing features of Verbmobil and introduce the notion of translation on demand and variable depth of processing in speech translation. We describe the role of anytime modules for efficient dialog translation in close to real time. The long-term vision behind the project Verbmobil is a portable translation device that you can carry to a meeting with Speakers of other foreign languages and it will translate what you say for them. Fig. 1: English as the Common Dialog Language in Verbmobil This very ambitious scientific goal will be persued in a series of well-defined project phases. The first versions of Verbmobil will provide translation on demand for the two participants who have a passive knowledge of English but of which neither is a