ADAPT Collaborates with Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

Dr Olga Torres-Hostench, a lecturer from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), spent the summer months as a visiting researcher at ADAPT in DCU. During her time at ADAPT, Dr Torres-Hostench conducted extensive user tests of Kanjingo, the mobile Machine Translation (MT) post-editing app developed in ADAPT, in collaboration with Dr Joss Moorkens, Dr Sharon O’Brien, and Joris Vreeke.

The focus of Dr Torres-Hostench’s tests were in English-to-Spanish with several participants. She also tested the app herself in various scenarios, and ran novel tests with observers watching on a large screen, making note of their opinions and identifying usability issues. The main aim of the research was to evaluate whether post-editing of MT on mobile and in different scenarios is realistic with and without voice input. In addition the research aimed to evaluate the quality of post-edited text produced by mobile post-editing, and to improve the app by testing Kanjingo usability and interface design.

Speaking about this research Dr Torres-Hostench said: “The ADAPT team has showed efficiency and commitment far beyond my expectations. It is no wonder why world-class state-of-the art research takes place in this dynamic research centre”.

Dr Torres-Hostench also spoke about her involvement in the Tradumàtica Research Group in Barcelona; a highly productive group of lecturers and researchers who publish their own journal – Revista Tradumàtica (http://revistes.uab.cat/tradumatica), run a conference, lead a Master’s programme, and run projects on computer-assisted translation and human interaction with MT funded by the Spanish government. With colleagues in the ADAPT Centre Dr Torres-Hostench aims to discuss possibilities for collaboration between ADAPT and this research group using her wide experience of government research funding in Spain.

Olga Torres Hostench is a Lecturer in Translation at the Department of Translation, Interpreting, and East Asian Studies at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Spain. She is a member of the Tradumàtica Research Group. Her PhD dissertation (2007) involved creation of a training programme for securing professional employment for translation postgraduates. Her research interests are mainly in machine translation and post-editing, although she has interests in translation, technologies and employability in general.