CHAPTER 5 Input/Output: Computers in Action
Biometric Identification In a recent study by International Biometric Group several methods for personal identification were tested and the results showed that consumers preferred fingerprint scanning to voice scans, retinal scans, hand scans, facial scans, or signature scans. One or several of these alternatives may replace the password for verifying authorized users sometime in the future. None of these methods is perfectly accurate, but biometric systems are improving and are moving closer to wide acceptance and implementation each year.
Language-to-Language Translation IBM now offers software that will enable people who do not understand each other's language to hold real-time chat sessions. An Englishman, a Spaniard, and a German entering comments in their native tongue can carry on a chat room conversation. The words entered are translated for output into the native language of the person receiving the communication. The electronic words on Web pages, e-mail, or online chat are translated at a rate of 500 words per second. The instant online translation system is for people who want translation quickly and don't have the time or the facility to get it translated. Of course most of the content on the Internet is in English, but most of the people who use the Internet do not speak the English language. This system will be a boon to companies that do a lot of international business and need translation services.