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MSRP: $1000.00
Your Price: $899.95 Savings: $100.05 (10.01%)
Rating:
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Summary
| Created for emergency responders, the Ectaco Medical, Fire, & Rescue MD-5 electronic translator provides two-way communication in English and Spanish. 14,000 categorized general phrases plus speech-activated phrasebook for fire, trauma, pre-hospital, history, registration, medications, other situations (natural human voice output). Over 1 million words. Color touch screen. Virtual keyboards, full character sets. Smart phone sized, similar controls. 19-item extensive accessory kit included. |
Specs
The Spanish Translator MD5 for Medical, Fire, Rescue provides two-way translation and many other useful features.
- Medical phrasebook.
- Thousands of first responder and EMS (Emergency Medical Services) commands and phrases on topics such as Registration, History, Medications, Pregnancy, Physical Exam, Fire, Trauma, and Triage.
- English speech recognition that recognizes 700 different speech patterns which can "learn" and adapt to anyone's voice.
- Search for single words or whole phrases.
- Maintain complete control of the situation with hands/eyes free functionality.
- Easily operate your unit with the touch-screen or navigational buttons day or night.
- Create custom profiles for dozens of users.
- Type in whatever you want, and get the translation. Works in both directions, so two people can communicate whatever they need to say to each other.
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Comes with 19 accessories:
Click image to enlarge |
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Dictionary (one-word lookups) |
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Size |
1,010,000 words. |
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Voice Output |
English, Spanish. Synthesized. |
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Optional Additional Dictionaries |
Registration, History, Medications, Pregnancy, Physical Exam, and Communication Control |
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Standard AudioPhrasebook (pre-translated sentences) |
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Size |
14,000 phrases plus idioms. |
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Voice Output |
English, Spanish. Real human voice. |
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Speech recognition |
Spanish, English. |
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Emergency AudioPhrasebook (pre-translated sentences) |
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Size |
Extensive. Includes thousands of first responder and medical commands and phrases on topics such as Registration, History, Medications, Pregnancy, Physical Exam, Fire, Trauma, and Triage. |
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Voice Output |
Spanish, English. Real human voice. |
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Speech recognition |
Spanish, English. |
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Physical |
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Display |
Color Touchscreen,
TFT LCD (320x240 pixels) |
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Screen backlight |
Yes |
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Headphones jack |
Yes |
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PC connection |
USB |
| AC adapter |
Included |
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Car Charger |
Included |
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Li-Polymer rechargeable battery |
Included |
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Dimensions (WxDxH) |
6.0 x 3.15x 0.63 in |
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Weighs only 7.05 oz!
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Additional |
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Language Teacher |
Yes. Awesome feature. |
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Slim case |
Yes |
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1 year warranty |
Yes |
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| Language |
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Full text translation |
Yes |
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Advanced search |
Yes |
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Instant reverse translation |
Yes |
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Spell-checker |
Yes |
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Irregular verbs |
No |
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New word recording |
No |
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Electronic grammar book |
No |
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TOEFL |
No |
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Calculator |
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Math calculator |
Yes |
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Engineering calculator |
No |
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Currency conversion |
No |
| Metric conversion |
Yes |
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Clock |
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World time |
Yes |
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Local time |
Yes |
| Daily alarm |
No |
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| Medical Communications |
| This is an extensive phrasebook organized by situation. So, for example, when admitting a patient to the ER, you go to that section and you'll find pre-translated phrases developed specifically for medical communications within the ER. You can speak into the device to say the phrase you want, or you can just tap the phrase with your fingertip. The device will speak it back out. The patient will hear the voice of a professional narrator speaking in the patient's own language. These are logically arranged into these main categories:
- Triage.
- Trauma.
- Medical.
- General.
- Pre-hospital Information.
- Fire.
- Registration.
- History.
- Medications.
- Pregnancy
- Physical Exam.
- Communications Control.
Some of these main categories take you directly to the phrases you need. For example, tap on Triage and you get a listing of phrases such as "Do you understand me?" and "Point with one finger to where you are having pain."
Others have their own subcategories. For example, tap on Registration and you choose between Introduction Statements and Patient Demographics, each with its own phrases.
Tap on the main category Medical, and you get:
- Cardiac.
- Fibrinolytic Criteria.
- Respiratory.
- Abdomincal.
- CVA/TIA.
- OB/GYN.
- Overdose.
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| EMS Commands |
| This section allows you to create profiles for multiple people. Each person can then add their own translations that are trained to their voice. Speaking a short command (a "voice tag") pulls up the translation in that person's voice. For example:
- John says, "Introduce me" into the unit.
- The unit says (in the other language), "Hello. My name is John Holt and I am an emergency medical technician. I am here to help you. I don't speak Spanish, but this machine will help us talk. Did you understand what I just said?"
- A simple nod is all John needs in reply.
- Next, he speaks a series of other initiation words or phrases and the Spanish Translator MD5 for Medical, Fire, Rescue speaks to the patient each time.
You can adapt this to your organization's specific procedures.
The Spanish Translator MD5 for Medical, Fire, Rescue understands thousands of medical, fire, and rescue phrases spoken in English. It can pronounce the translations back to those you are trying to help. This hands-free/ eyes-free operational unit produces 100% understandable translations spoken by professional native-speakers. Now you have the assistance you need to make the right decision and provide the help that saves lives.
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Commands
| This device permits speech-operated commands. This hands-free/ eyes-free operation produces100% understandable translations spoken by professional native-speakers. Now you have the assistance you need to make the right decision and control potentially dangerous situations.
See the Specs tab for details. They're right below the specifications table. |
Speech
| You may read about "speech recognition," voice output," or something else that leads you to think that you speak into the device and out comes the spoken translation. This isn't how it works.
There is an effect that mimics speech to speech under very specific conditions. It's very useful, but it's not the same as speaking in and getting a translation out. To see more about that functionality, see the Commands area of the Specs tab.
"...the natural ways in which humans use language and the variable contexts of speech are extremely complex, so much so that programming a computer to truly understand us has been, and will for a long time remain one of the greatest challenges in all science."
-- David Wolman, Righting the Mother Tongue, 2008
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One incredibly impressive use for speech recognition is in the Language Teacher program, so let's look at that and then we'll move on to speech recognition and translation.
>Speech Recognition in Language Teacher
This device uses speech recognition in very clever, useful ways in its Language Teacher program.
For example, you are in Language Teacher learning words in the other language. It will show you the word and pronounce it. You then pronounce the word yourself. Language Teacher will grade your pronunciation, telling you things like, "Try again,' "Not quite," "Not bad," or "Excellent." You'll see a graphical comparison, as well. Way, way cool.
But that's not all. After you learn a few words, you'll be presented with an image. Above it will be the words you just learned. Now you have to pronounce the word that describes the image. And this is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg in describing what this device does with speech recognition.
Speech Recognition for Translating
You may have seen a demonstration like the one in this 8-minute video and gotten the impression that the device does "speech to speech" translation. That wasn't the message in that video. What it shows is the ability to look up phrases via voice input.
In short, there is no such thing as a "voice to voice" or "speech to speech" translator on the market. The technology for such a thing in a pocket-sized device that doesn't run on a pair of car batteries or super-long extension cord just doesn't exist.
So, why are people talking into these devices in the videos and live demonstrations? Well, we have sold these devices to police officers, social workers, and others who have taken the time to become familiar with the phrasebook and have a fair idea of what's in it. They can just say the phrase they want and the device will pull up the translation.
It doesn't take long to have this ability, primarily because of how the phrases are organized. You can look through the corresponding phrasebook section before going out with a device in a particular situation (e.g. to the bank). Knowing the kind of phrases (e.g. "Where is the nearest bank?") will allow you to say the ones that are in the device.
To many people, this is "speech-to-speech translation." But, technically, it's not. It's using the audio phrasebook feature to use pre-translated speech for specific situations. The kicker here is you have 14,000 phrases covering a wide range of typical situations.
The situations include Basics, Traveling, Hotel, Local Transport, Sightseeing, Bank, Communication Means, In the Restaurant, Food/Drinks, Shopping, Repairs/Laundry, Sport/Leisure, Health/Drugstore, and Beauty Care.
If we're talking about being able to pull up canned phrases that fit specific situations, then, yes, there is "speech to speech translation." But it isn't simply talking into the device and then whatever you said gets translated.
Translation is a complex endeavor, and doing it on the fly in a portable machine is beyond current capabilities. There are many reasons for this, and to understand them you merely have to be present when a human interpreter goes back and forth between two parties. Now imagine that with a machine that can't make eye contact with people and two or three people talking at the same time.
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| So, yes, you can speak specific phrases into a device and get a translation out. The unit will try to match what you said to what's in its internal database In every implementation today, that's the phrasebook--this is significant, because it means you have to exactly match what's in the phrasebook. It actually does work, as demonstrated in this 8-minute video.
The device does not transcribe what you said to the screen. Instead, it looks up what its program says matches what you said. Therein lies one of the big problems; the device can be way off the mark. Using text entry solves that problem.
All of the units with this feature perform speech input in English. Many also recognize speech in the target language: Spanish, French, German, Russian, Chinese, Italian, Portuguese, English, Polish, etc. A subsequent step is having the unit pronounce it, if you so desire.
The device does not transcribe what you said to the screen. Instead, it looks up the translation that matches what you said.
>Voice output for Text Translation
You don't have to study foreign language grammar, conjugate verbs or search for coherent words anymore. Now you can just type any sentence or full text in a handheld device and get its translation instantly. From English to Spanish, French, Russian, German, Polish, Arabic, Chinese, Italian, Polish, Portuguese languages and back to English! Moreover, by pressing one button, you can hear the translated text pronounced aloud correctly in the targeted language (with the text to speech synthesized voice).
More, below....
Fact #1: You cannot simply speak free-form into a translator and have a translation come out. That's not how it works. You first navigate to the general category (easy to do), and then speak a phrase that is in that category. Fact #2: Speech recognition is not appropriate for high noise environments, because the background noise will create problems. It works just fine in environments where the background noise doesn't require a person to speak loudly to be heard (meaning a non-earplug zone, if you're talking about a factory). If you can understand that before buying one of these devices, then you will be a very happy owner. Yes, it sounds like we're underselling this feature. In a sense, we are. The point here is to let you know not to assume the device does on the fly translation or will always do a perfect job of speech-based lookup. It has to contend with all kinds of nuances, such as diction errors, background noise, varying rates of speech and pitch, accents, and other obstacles. It does this well, but not perfectly.
Counterclaim: "But I saw this demonstrated! A guy spoke into the device and got the translation out." No, what you saw was not speech to speech translation. What you saw was a use of the phrasebook lookup function. That person doing the demonstration knew exactly what phrases to say. As noted, this feature works well for many situations. But it is not a "free form" translation on the fly.
Perspective: Before these electronic devices were available, people used paper pocket dictionaries (successfully, for decades). These typically had a couple hundred words and a few dozen phrases. The electronic ones were doing 20,000 words and 2,000 phrases about a decade ago. The current generation of devices have, in many cases, over 1 million words in some language pairs (as with Spanish). They all have 14,000 phrases per language. So, a lot less gesturing and a lot more actual communication with a lot less frustration.
To do free-form speech to speech translation would require an entirely new design philosophy, plus computing power surpassing what you have on your desktop. You'd need to carry around an enormous battery (it would weigh more than your entire family) or a very, very long extension cord. Thus, all pocket devices use the table model described previously. They are far more capable than their paper predecessors, and people used those paper ones successfully for many decades.
The average American owns a passenger car that won't do the quarter mile in 10 seconds and can't hit 200 MPH. As much as we admire those supercars and would like the speed, the cars we have get us where we're going and are much better than walking when we need to go far. Plus, they cost about a tenth of what a super car costs to purchase and are far less of a headache and expense to own and maintain. The same logic applies to an electronic translation device.
Voice output
Most translation devices today have voice output. This feature is normally redundant for communication, because the other person is reading the translation on the screen anyhow. But proves useful in many situations.
Many people assume the presence of voice output with speech input means all you have to do is talk into the device and out comes a perfect translation. Then the other person talks into the device. But this assumption is wrong.
You can use voice output for purposes such as:
- When you want minimal distractions with the screen.
- When you don't want to hand the other person your device.
- When the sunlight or other conditions make the screen hard to read.
- You want to learn pronunciation (use the headset or earbuds).
Of course, you would not want to use the voice output when, for example,
- You want privacy.
- It's too noisy to hear clearly.
- You are both using the screen anyhow.
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Translating
The SpeechGuard offers many potent translation tools. This section explains what they are and how they work. These tools help two people communicate, even though they don't speak the same language.
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Full text translation (works in both directions)
- This feature allows you to type in your own random sentence. It's also called sentence translation.
- You can type on the virtual keyboard.
- The other person can type on the virtual keyboard, in his/her own characters.
- This feature isn't available for every language pair. Look that the specs chart for the language pair you are interested in.
Question: "Does the full text translation tend to be too confusing to be useful?"
Answer: Not at all. You simply write concise sentences.
For example, you might normally say, "Do you think you might want to go to the waterfront with me this evening, maybe a litte after supper?"
With FTT, you might type in, "Go to waterfront?" Then you might point to your watch and hold up 6 fingers for the time. It takes only seconds to type that.
The other person might respond by nodding, by holding up fingers for a different time, or by typing in a message. For example, "Go to museum." In response to your disappointed look, "Waterfront dangerous in evening."
Dictionary (works in both directions)
- Advanced word recognition allows you to find a word just by typing the first few letters.
- MorphoFinder helps you find source words for English past participles, gerunds, and plural forms.
- The "Slang lock" function allows you to toggle between "include" or "exclude" (lock in/lock out) slang in the dictionaries.
- Vector Ultima spell-checker.
- English phonetic transcription.
- The WordNet Princeton edition dictionary of modern English has over 70,000 head words and detailed explanations.
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| Pictured Dictionary
(works in both directions)
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Thus, the iTravl provides you with a picture dictionary. Either person can look up a word and show the other person a pictorial representation. It's simple, quick, and clear.
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Phrasebook
(works in both directions)
- The audio phrasebook was recorded with professional native narrators. Consequently, it delivers superb voice output.
- The "You may hear" function helps another person select an answer from a list of canned answers. For instance, having picked the topic "In a restaurant," you choose a phrase. The waiter wants to reply to that phrase. You then select the "You may hear" option listed in the restaurant category (there is such an option in each category). The waiter can select the answer from the list provided.
- A "phrase" is usually a complete sentence. It's called a "phrase" out of tradition.
Sentence Builder (works in both directions)
This handy, easy to use feature is a word substitution tool for existing phrases in the phrasebook. You don't actually "build sentences" with it. Here's how you use Sentence Builder:
- Choose a phrase.
- Tap on a hyperlinked word in the phrase. This brings up a short list.
- Tap a word from the list to replace the hyperlinked word with the one you tapped
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Learning
With this translator, you have an array of powerful language learning tools at your disposal. These consist of:
- Language Teacher.
- Linguistic Crossword.
- Linguistic Flashcards.
Language Teacher
The interactive language teacher system is a powerful tool for learning other languages. It can listen to you and tell you how well you pronounce something in another language. When you repeat the item in the foreign language, the program:
- Compares your pronunciation to the correct one.
- Shows you a "how you did" graphic.
- Repeats your pronunciation aloud.
- Repeats the correct pronunciation aloud.
In addition to pronouncing the alphabet, word, phrase, or dialogue aloud, the device shows the:
- Spelling.
- Translation.
- Transcription.
- Picture for visualization.
- Diagram of the correct pronunciation.
On the main screen, you'll see "Learn Language Basics in 4 Steps." This tool takes you through each of those steps, and provides a structured approach so you don't get lost or confused. This is available in most iTravl language sets, but not all. See the Specifications area (above). Here are five screen shots. The first one is the main menu. We provide a screenshot, in sequence, for each item on that menu.
    
Click an image to enlarge.
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Games: Linguistic Crossword and Linguistic Flashcards
In the iTravl manual, you will see five games listed, but the iTravl menu shows only two. What's up with that? Well, there actually are five. One is Linguistic Crossword, and the other four are variations of flashcard games so you access them from "Linguistic Flashcards." The original games were pretty useless for English speakers. Ectaco has completely revamped these, and now they are engaging, entertaining, and helpful (euphemistically speaking, that is--if we admit to how addictive they are, your significant other might nix the purchase and we can't have that). In Linguistic Crossword, you have a crossword puzzle. It has user options to help you, if you get stuck. These include "Reveal word," Show letter," "say English word," Say clue." It's really fun, and it helps you learn new words in the target language. In Linguistic Flashcards, you can select from four different games:
- Flashcards. You see the word in the other language, and provide the English translation. If you can't translate, you "flip" the card to show the translation.
- Pockets. As you get the translation of each word correct, you move it from one pocket to another.
- Translation test. A multiple choice approach.
- Spell. Similar to Flashcards, but you have to spell the translation correctly. This one is a bit backwards, as it should have you spell the source word rather than the translation. But it still forces you to translate into English.
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More Info
More information, because we want you to be a well-informed customer.... |
You need to understand why this is a smart purchase for you. Or, possibly, why not. We want you to get the product that's right for you. This very informational page has these sections:
- Overview.
- Hardware basic info.
- Translation tools.
- Speech recognition and voice.
- Language learning system (with screenshots).
- Answer to the #1 question about translators.
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You will find translator industry jargon defined in our glossary. The last thing we want is poor communication!
If you still have questions, the fastest way to get them answered is to send us an e-mail at sales @ mindconnection.com (remove the spaces and paste into your e-mail client address box).
Mindconnection is an authorized factory dealer. We sell brand-new translators with a full one-year warranty. We don't try to pawn off stolen, counterfeit, or broken merchandise as new. Get the real thing, get great service before and after the sale. Buy from Mindconnection. |
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This device is based on the iTravl electronic translator. Its simple controls and many useful features make this translator easy to use. If you can use the typical cell phone, you can use this device.
- Comes complete. You don't need to buy anything extra to use it. It comes with an extensive accessory kit.
- Follows standards. This translator's controls are instantly familiar to anyone who uses digital devices. You don't have to learn a proprietary system.
- You will enjoy it for many years. Customers sometimes ask if our prices are low because something newer is coming out. No, our prices are low because, for example, we don't hype up products and our ultra low return rate reduces our overhead.
- Has electronic manual onboard. It's easy to access, well-organized, and easy to use. You don't have to drag a paper manual around. Actually, this translator is so intuitive you don't even need a manual
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The SpeechGuard, at 6.0 x 3.15x 0.63 in, is about 50% larger than an iPod (4.1 x 2.4 x 0.43 in). So, it's not teeny but it is smaller than some PDAs.
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The software for a language set comes on an SD card. This means you can add additional language sets inexpensively..
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The SpeechGuard translator ships on the same business day, if ordered by noon Eastern Time. Often, it will ship the same day if ordered later than that. |
Visibility
- Hi-resolution backlit color screen. Oddly enough, Ectaco engineers felt that being able to actually see what's on the screen without the use of an electron microscope might appeal to some customers (what crazy guys, huh?). This kind of screen is the best available today.
- Color-coded parts of speech. Allows you to quickly select the right word(s).
Graphics
This translator uses graphics to make operation simple and efficient. Examples:
- Tap the battery indicator to toggle between a pictorial representation and a percentage display.
- Tap the language indicator, and you instantly switch between languages.
- Tap the keyboard icon, and a virtual keyboard opens (a standard function for mobile devices).
Power
- Adjustable Auto Off function will shut off translator when it’s idle.
- Powered by rechargeable 900 mAH battery (included), which is charged by an AC adapter (included).
- Also charges when connected to PC (or laptop) by USB cable (any mini-USB cable). Cable is included.
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| Battery life
- We have tested these units extensively and found they have consistently long run times.
- The people making battery complaints on various forums failed to properly charge the battery.
- We have yet to find a "bad battery" issue that isn't corrected by proper charging.
- It's a 900mAH battery with a 300mA charger. Battery charging isn't linear, so it's not 3 hours (3H x 300mA) to charge it up. It takes about 6 hours.
- Never charge a lithium-polymer battery for more than 24 hours. We recommend keeping the limit at 12, to preserve the life of the paste for as long as possible.
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Additional features |
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Virtual keyboards, with complete character sets. These allow the other person to communicate back to you.
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SD slot for simplified content replacement and updates.
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Interchangeable SDs allow you to add linguistic content from Ectaco.
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Metric conversions.
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Calculator.
Voice recorder.
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World time.
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MP3 Player. This translator has a media player with MP3 support.
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| Question
"Can I talk into it and get the translation out? Some of your competitors claim they sell a product that can do this. In fact, it's the same model number you have."
Answer: Such a device does not exist. Our sticking to the facts on this issue causes us sometimes to lose sales to a competitor that is selling the same device but is apparently not very familiar with it. Maybe about the time the Enterprise makes its first stop at Planet Vulcan, such functionality will exist in a pocket sized device, and it won't cost more than, say, a median home in Boston.
Just to provide the electric power for the required processor resources means you'd need to haul around a battery that weighs more than the two heaviest people on your team put together, or you'd need a very, very long extension cord. For a more detailed answer, click here. Why, then, are there so many claims that such a device exists? Because of a feature called speech recognition. This does allow you to speak into the device and get a translation, but you have to speak an exact phrase that is already in the device. An apple isn't an orange, even if they have some similarities. |
| Some Features This Device Does NOT Have |
The SpeechGuard is an amazing product. But it can't do everything. Here are some features it does not have:
- Speech to speech translation. We want to be very clear about this. You cannot talk into a translation device and get a translation out. Not for random speech, anyhow. You can speak into it to look up stored phrases.
- Phone. The SpeechGuard doesn't dial out.
- A stun setting. While this would be extremely useful in many situations, it is unfortunately not included in the SpeechGuard.
- Camera feature. A crappy camera in a phone is a really bad idea (there's a reason we have cameras). Ectaco did not design a crappy camera feature into the SpeechGuard, out of respect for the dignity of the user. If you want to take crappy pictures, you can use the crappy camera in your phone or buy a throwaway crappy camera. But probably, you don't want to take crappy pictures anyhow, just good ones, so this is a moot issue.
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SD Cards
| SpeechGuard Series SD-Cards
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Use these Secure Digital (SD) cards to add languages to your translator, which accepts the iTravl series cards. The SD cards come in two-language versions and multi-language versions. To add an SD card to this order:
- Change the quantity of each card you want.
- Page down and add to cart.
Accessories
| Comes with 19 accessories:
Click image to enlarge |
POs
| Many of our customers need to purchase via Purchase Order and pay by check or wire transfer. We are happy to have such customers. Thus, we accommodate buyers who have to work within paper-based systems, though we don't use paper ourselves. As an Earth-friendly company, we don't do faxes.
Here are a couple of ways you can send us your order: |
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| Option One Type a short e-mail telling us:
- What you want.
- Where to send it.
- Whom to invoice (via e-mail).
- What the PO number is.
We don't need your actual PO. |
Option Two
- Proceed through checkout, as though you were using a credit card.
- For Bill To, enter the e-mail address of your Accounts Payable Department (or someone in it).
- When you get to the page that asks for your credit card number, stop.
- Copy and paste the order information from that page into an HTML-formatted e-mail.
- Enter your PO number above the order information.
- Send the e-mail to sales@mindconnection.com, with a subject line that makes sense to you.
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If you already have a PO saved as a PDF, you can just e-mail that. We ship once AP acknowledges they have the invoice. We can insert a "Pay After" date if your system uses a paper PO as a process flag for payment. |
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Terms. Our terms are Net 20, with the discount provided in the regular price. If you need more time, the rates below apply. Don't consider mailing time in your calculations. If you process a check within 20 days after we send you the invoice, then no financing fee applies (your order will have long since arrived). Otherwise, please adjust the payment amount as follows: |
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Fee |
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Remember, we give the discount upfront rather than inflating the price to penalize customers who pay promptly. We want to give you that discount. If you have special circumstances, let us know and we'll try to work something out. |
| After 20 days |
2% of order total |
| After 30 days |
4% of order total |
| After 40 days |
10% of order total |
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Customer Reviews |
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