SRI International Manages Major DARPA Program for Global Autonomous Language Exploitation (GALE)
Multidisciplinary Team Developing Software Technologies to Absorb, Analyze and Interpret Huge Volumes of Text and Speech in Multiple Languages
MENLO PARK, Calif. -- April 28, 2006 -- SRI International, an independent nonprofit research and development organization, today announced an SRI-managed project called, Novel Information Gathering and Harvesting Techniques for Intelligence in Global Autonomous Language Environments (NIGHTINGALE), a five-year collaboration between 15 corporations and universities. The project has been ongoing since October 2005. The program is funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) under its GALE (Global Autonomous Language Exploitation) program.
The U.S. increasingly depends on reliable information that affects both military and national security decision-makers and soldiers in the field. Although large volumes of raw data are being gathered from around the globe in many languages and media (speech and text), decision-makers are unable to effectively exploit these data for the information they need. The goal of the GALE program is to develop and apply technologies to absorb, analyze and interpret huge volumes of speech and text in multiple languages.
The program will initially focus on English, Mandarin Chinese and Arabic. Automatic processing engines will recognize, translate and distill data, delivering pertinent, consolidated information in easy-to-understand forms to military personnel in response to direct or implicit requests.
With NIGHTINGALE, by tapping into flows of foreign language information from a variety of spoken and written sources such as news broadcasts, news groups and talk shows, military decision-makers can become oriented to changes in their areas of operation much more quickly. Near-simultaneous translation of local spoken languages and dialects will allow commanders to integrate information derived from various spoken and written sources, and to drill down on a hypothesis by returning to the sources to understand the chain of annotations that supported that hypothesis.
"By leveraging automatic and context-aware technology and taking advantage of multilanguage, multidialect and multigenre annotated text and audio databases, SRI’s NIGHTINGALE project can help assure that responses to critical information needs are accurate, timely and relevant," said David Israel, principal investigator of the NIGHTINGALE project and an SRI program director.
About SRI International
Silicon Valley-based SRI International (www.sri.com) is one of the world’s leading independent research and technology development organizations. Founded as Stanford Research Institute in 1946, SRI has been meeting the strategic needs of clients for 60 years. The nonprofit research institute performs client-sponsored research and development for government agencies, commercial businesses, and private foundations. In addition to conducting contract R&D, SRI licenses its technologies, forms strategic partnerships, and creates spin-off companies.
