THE SIMULTANEOUS TRANSLATOR
a project for Turbulence.org
by John Roach & Willy Whip

The Simultaneous Translator is a 2007 commission of New Radio and Peforming Arts, Inc. (aka Ether-Ore) for its Turbulence web site. It was made possible with the generous support of Murray G. and Beatrice H. Sherman Charitable Trust.


What is the Simultaneous Translator?

The Simultaneous Translator" (SimTrans) is a Windows based audio interface that enables anyone to load audio streams and manipulate them in real time on the Internet. SimTrans makes the delays and fluctuations of the Internet visible and audible. The Internet becomes your collaborator as you create your mix, and the instability you usually try to avoid becomes a tool for creation. Distance and delay are manifest within the interface numerically and as a series of sliding heads; there is also a link to Google Earth where you can watch the dynamic flight of data travel between yourself and the audio source.

 

System Requirements:
- Windows 32bits (Windows 95 to Windows Vista)
- Internet Connection

Optional tools
- Google Earth

The Simultaneous Translator uses traceroutes to measure the distance and delay between the user and the source of the streaming audio.

" A utility called traceroute probes the paths that data packets take through the Internet, recording all the "hops" (routers) along the way."
         – The Atlas of Cyberspace

This project grew out of our still-active live networked performance project called Simultaneous Translation. The project was developed as a means to stage live performances that capitalize on the delays of the medium and the indeterminacy that can occur when events move continually out of synch.