The words behind the work.

Spoken interpretation produced by software rather than a person: speech recognition turns the speaker’s words into text, machine translation renders them in another language, and a synthetic voice speaks the result. At an event, SIM.AI delivers it to guests’ own phones, a few seconds behind the speaker, in up to 12 languages at once. It suits conferences, briefings and training sessions well, but it can still make errors with names, idiom and specialised terms, which is why a glossary and live monitoring matter.

The audio signal taken from the venue’s mixing desk and sent to the interpretation system. A clean feed carries only the speakers’ microphones, without walk-in music, video playback or room noise. It is the single biggest factor in interpretation quality, human or AI: a clean feed from the desk beats a microphone placed in the room.

A soundproofed cabin where simultaneous interpreters work, usually in pairs, with a clear view of the stage. Inside, each interpreter has a console that controls their microphone, the channel they listen to and the language channel they speak into. Booths are designed for sound insulation, air and light, and in a hotel ballroom or exhibition hall they need floor space, set-up time and a technician.

Live, word-for-word captions written by a trained human captioner, usually in the same language as the speaker, for guests who are deaf or hard of hearing. The term comes from accessibility practice, where verbatim accuracy is the priority. AI live captions serve a similar purpose and can also appear in a guest’s own language; where an accessibility plan specifically requires verbatim human captioning, CART is the right choice.

A written translation that carries a translator’s certification or stamp so that an authority will accept it. In the UAE, documents for courts, ministries and other authorities often need a legal translation by a translator licensed by the Ministry of Justice. It is translation, not interpretation: it concerns documents rather than speech, and it is one of Sim Trans’s core services.

Software that supports a human interpreter during an assignment rather than replacing them. Typical CAI tools show the speaker’s words as text, surface glossary terms and pick out numbers and names, the details that are easiest to lose under pressure. SIM.AI’s Interpreter Assist is a CAI tool for booth interpreters: it shows live speaker words, a running translation as a prompt, instant glossary term cards and highlighted numbers, names and acronyms.

The interpreter listens while the speaker talks for a few sentences or minutes, often taking notes, then renders the passage in the other language while the speaker pauses. It needs no booth or equipment, which suits bilateral meetings, majlis-style gatherings, press statements and site visits. The trade-off is time: every passage is heard twice, so the session runs considerably longer.

The channel that carries the speaker’s original voice, untranslated, in a conference audio system. Delegates who understand the speaker select the floor; everyone else selects a language channel. Interpreters listen to the floor too, so its sound quality shapes everything that follows. In SIM.AI, guests reading captions can tap “Show original” to see the speaker’s own words.

A prepared list of the names, titles, acronyms and specialist terms a session will use, with the agreed rendering of each. For a UAE event it typically covers honorifics such as His Highness and His Excellency, entity names in Arabic and English, product names and legal terms. Interpreters, human or AI, use it to keep key terms consistent; SIM.AI loads it before the event and applies it across every language channel.

The pocket-sized unit with headphones that guests carry in a traditional set-up, tuned to a channel to hear an interpreter. Infrared signals stay inside the room, which keeps them private and unaffected by radio interference, but receivers must be counted out, collected, charged and cleaned. SIM.AI replaces them with guests’ own phones; Sim Trans still supplies infrared systems for events that need them.

One stream of interpretation in a single language, which a guest selects to listen or read along. In a booth set-up each channel needs its own interpreters; in SIM.AI, up to 12 language channels run at the same time from one audio feed, chosen from 81 languages. A language can be added during a live session, and our team monitors every channel throughout.

The delay between a speaker’s words and the interpretation reaching the listener. Human simultaneous interpreters also run a little behind, because they need a few words of context before they can start a sentence. SIM.AI runs a few seconds behind the speaker. That suits keynotes, panels and briefings; presenters should simply allow a moment before expecting a reaction, such as a show of hands.

Text of what is being said, shown as it is spoken, on a screen or on each guest’s phone. Captions help guests in noisy halls, guests who are deaf or hard of hearing, and anyone who follows a second language more easily in writing. In SIM.AI, guests choose audio and captions, or captions only, in their own language, with “Show original” one tap away.

SIM.AI’s glossary-enforced mode for sessions where terminology must not vary, such as legal, government and technical sessions. The glossary is prepared with us in advance and enforced, so agreed terms, names and titles are rendered and pronounced consistently. It reduces errors rather than removing them.

A microphone that is live only while its button is pressed, common on boardroom tables and in delegate conference systems. Because only one or two microphones are open at a time, speakers are less likely to talk over each other, which helps human interpreters and speech recognition alike. For round-table meetings and council-style sessions, PTT microphones routed through the venue desk give the cleanest audio.

Interpretation through a third language, used when no interpreter covers a language pair directly. A Japanese speaker might be interpreted into English, and the Urdu booth then works from the English channel rather than the original. Each step adds delay and a chance of drift, so relay needs careful planning; with SIM.AI there are no booths to chain together, as every language channel runs from the one audio feed.

Interpretation into the interpreter’s second working language rather than their mother tongue. In the Gulf it is common in Arabic–English booths, where a native Arabic speaker may also interpret from Arabic into English on the same assignment. It demands an excellent command of both languages, so it is worth confirming when you book human interpreters for a bilingual session.

An interpreter reading a written document aloud in another language on the spot, such as a contract clause, a witness statement or a letter handed over in a meeting. It sits between translation and interpretation: the source is written, the output is spoken. It comes up often in courtrooms, notary appointments and legal consultations, and it is work for a qualified human interpreter.

Interpretation delivered while the speaker is still talking, so the listener hears it only a few seconds behind. Human simultaneous interpreters work from a booth in pairs, taking turns because the work is intensely demanding, and guests listen through receivers. It is the standard for conferences, summits and high-level meetings; AI interpretation now offers a simultaneous option without booths or receivers.

The technical chain behind AI interpretation: speech in one language goes in, speech in another comes out. Most systems work in stages, with speech recognition, machine translation and speech synthesis, and each stage can introduce errors, so audio quality and a good glossary matter. The industry calls it translation; at an event, the result is interpretation. SIM.AI wraps the chain in a service: a venue feed, monitored language channels, chosen voices and records after the event.

A plain-text file that holds each caption line with its start and end time, so video players and editing software can display it. SRT is the most widely supported format; WebVTT (VTT) is the standard format for video on web pages. After an event, SIM.AI delivers standard subtitle files for each language, ready to add to your session recording.

A written record of what was said in a session. SIM.AI delivers a transcript for each language channel as .docx and .xlsx files, which suit minutes, reports and follow-up. Like the live output, a machine transcript can contain errors, so treat it as a working record and have it reviewed before it is published or relied on formally.

A session in which speakers use more than one language, such as a panel that moves between Arabic and English, or a Q&A where questions come from the floor in Hindi or French. In a booth set-up, interpreters either work in both directions or hand over between booths as the language changes. In SIM.AI, when a speaker switches language mid-session, the system follows automatically.

Simultaneous interpretation whispered directly to one or two listeners sitting beside the interpreter, without a booth or equipment. It suits a visiting delegate in a bilateral meeting, a site tour or a ceremony where only one guest needs the language. It is tiring for the interpreter and can disturb people nearby, so it works best for short sessions and small groups.

The three-pin connector used for professional audio, from microphones to mixing desks. It carries a balanced signal, which resists hum and interference over the long cable runs found in ballrooms and exhibition halls. SIM.AI takes the venue feed through an XLR cable into our audio interface, so the AV team only needs to send us an output from the desk.