Zoom buys real-time translation AI firm Kites, to expand service beyond English language

Zoom already has real-time transcriptions, but it's limited to people who are talking in English. On a support page, Zoom also makes it clear that its current live transcription feature may not meet certain accuracy requirements.

The Zoom Video Communications Inc. logo on a smartphone arranged in Dobbs Ferry, New York, U.S., on Saturday, May 29, 2021. Zoom Video Communications Inc. is scheduled to release earnings figures on June 1. (Bloomberg)

Proprietary video teleconferencing platform Zoom recently announced that it's acquiring a company known as Kites (short for Karlsruhe Information Technology Solutions), which has worked on creating real-time translation and transcription software.

According to Mashable, Zoom said that the acquisition is a move to help it make communicating with people who speak different languages easier and that it's looking to add translation capabilities to its video conferencing app.

The company's site tells Kites began at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, and its technology was originally developed to act as an in-classroom translation for students who needed help understanding the English or German their professors were lecturing in.

Zoom already has real-time transcriptions, but it's limited to people who are talking in English. On a support page, Zoom also makes it clear that its current live transcription feature may not meet certain accuracy requirements.

As per Mashable, the company has said that it's considering opening a research centre in Germany, where the Kites team will be staying.

In recent news, Zoom added support for additional camera support on the latest iPad Pros – allowing users to move around in front of their screen, while the front-facing camera tracks their movement and adjusts the video framing so they're visible. The app can achieve this without needing to adjust the location of the iPad, thanks to special access provided by Apple. When another user comes into the screen the camera will once again adjust itself so that both people are inside the frame.

• With inputs from HT Correspondent.