The aim of TransType2 (TT2) is to develop a new kind of Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT) system that will help solve a very pressing social problem: how to meet the growing demand for high-quality translation. To date, translation technology has not been able to keep pace with the demand for high-quality translation. The innovative solution proposed by TT2 is to embed a data driven Machine Translation (MT) engine within an interactive translation environment. In this way, the system combines the best of two paradigms: the CAT paradigm, in which the human translator ensures high-quality output; and the MT paradigm, in which the machine ensures significant productivity gains.

Our focus is on high-quality (HQ) translation, the worldwide demand for which continues to increase exponentially and now far exceeds the capacity of the translation profession to satisfy it. To what extent is MT currently being used to satisfy this growing demand for HQ translation? Quite obviously, very little. Although MT is being used today by more people than ever before, very few of these users are professional translators. This represents a major change, for a mere ten years ago, translators were still the principal target market for most MT vendors. What happened to bring about this change? For that matter, what happened to most of those MT vendors? The view we present is that the most promising strategy for HQ MT is to embed MT systems in translation environments where the translator retains full control over their output. In our opinion, this new type of interactive MT will achieve better acceptance levels among translators and significantly improve the prospects of MT’s commercial success in the translation industry.