AI interpretation in your conference venue
When an organiser wants to reach guests in several languages, they usually book a team of interpreters. That typically means two interpreters per language, a booth, equipment, preparation and travel. For many smaller conferences it is too much, and the event stays in one language.
With PONTAVOX you can offer these organisers interpretation in your own hall. The speech comes from the mixing desk, PONTAVOX interprets it continuously into the chosen languages, and each language goes to its own channel on your system. Guests listen on receivers and headphones. They need no phone, no app and no Wi-Fi, and there is no booth in the room.
You can hear what it sounds like in the samples on the home page. PONTAVOX runs at real events at the Eventforum Bern.
Works with the system you own or hire
PONTAVOX outputs each language as its own line-level signal. Any system can be connected, and the equipment you already have stays in use. How many languages run at once depends on your system, with one output and one channel per language. The details are under Equipment and connection.
- Radio systemOne transmitter per language. Guests pick the channel on their receiver.
- InfraredOne channel per language on the infrared radiator, as with a classic interpreting system.
- Interpreter deskIf the hall has an interpreting system with a desk, the language goes into it and on through the usual path.
- Loudspeakers in a side roomOne language can go through an amplifier to loudspeakers, for example in a side room where everyone listens in the same language.
- Live streamOne language can also provide the sound for a live stream.
What your venue needs for an event
It takes five things, and several of them come with any hall that has a sound system.
If you work with an AV company, they can run it for you. What they need to know is on the page for AV companies.
- An output from the mixing deskA dedicated output carrying the stage microphones, so the speech arrives clean and without room echo.
- A laptop with the PONTAVOX StudioIt takes in the speech and sends each language to its own output.
- A transmitter per languageOne channel of the system for each language, by radio, infrared or loudspeaker.
- Receivers and headphonesFor every guest who wants to listen to an interpretation.
- Someone to run itA member of your technical team looks after the Studio for the whole event. It shows them every language with its output, level and distance to the speech.
We do not travel with equipment and a technician. On-site operation is done by your own technical team or by an AV company you work with.
How we work together
From the first enquiry to the client report there are five steps. Terms, setup and support are agreed with you in a conversation. How a single event runs is described under How it works.
- ConversationYou tell us about your halls, your system and the events you want to offer. We tell you openly where PONTAVOX fits and where it does not.
- SetupThe PONTAVOX Studio is installed on your laptop, and the signal path from the mixing desk to the channels is set up.
- RehearsalBefore the event, a test in the hall checks the whole path from microphone to receiver. For languages other than German, French, English and Italian we run a test of the interpretation beforehand.
- EventThe programme, speaker list, names, abbreviations and technical terms go into the glossary in advance. During the event your technical team looks after the Studio and PONTAVOX watches over every language.
- Client reportOn request you receive a report after the event with the figures for each language, which you can pass on to your client.
What the organiser gets
Your client books the hall and the interpretation together, from you. They do not need to find interpreters, plan a booth or arrange travel. PONTAVOX costs a fraction of an interpreting team; the equipment comes on top. The individual cost items are set out under Cost and comparison.
- Guests without phonesEach guest gets a receiver and headphones at the entrance and picks the channel for their language at their seat.
- About five secondsWith fluent speech the interpretation runs four to five seconds behind the original, on a panel five to six.
- One fixed voiceEach language speaks with the same voice, female or male, from the first sentence to the last.
- The room stays audibleWhen someone on stage speaks a channel’s language, that channel goes quiet and guests hear the room.
- A watch on every languageIf a language goes quiet while someone is speaking, PONTAVOX rebuilds it and catches up on what was missed. If that fails, a second path takes over.
Where the limits are
On stage, speakers use standard German or English. Swiss German does not work. You can choose from 38 target languages; which ones, and which are measured, is listed under Languages.
On a panel, PONTAVOX works if everyone has their own microphone and speaks one at a time. For debates with interruptions, negotiations and confidential content, an interpreting team is the better choice. PONTAVOX is not meant for classified content.
Tell your clients about these limits early. That way every organiser knows before booking what they will get.