Compadre™:Interact v3.1 Release Notes

Thank you for choosing Compadre™:Interact for your instant language translation solution.

System Requirements:

  • Processor:
    • Arabic: 2 GHz or better clock speed - Ideally Dual Core
    • Other languages: 1 GHz or better clock speed - Intel Pentium 4 or Pentium M
  • Operating Systems:
    • English to Chinese Interact: Microsoft® Windows Vista Ultimate with Chinese language pack
      • If this is a native Chinese installation of Windows, then any version of Vista is fine
    • English to Other languages: Microsoft® Windows XP Professional, Windows XP desktop or Tablet Edition, Windows Vista Business or Ultimate
    • NOTE: The 3.1 release only supports Windows running on a native platform
  • RAM:
    • Arabic: 2.0 GB to 3.0 GB depending on configuration
    • Other languages (e.g. French, Dutch, Chinese): 1 GB Minimum
  • Disk Space:
    • 1.5 GB of free disk space
  • I/O:
    • DVD Reader
    • Microphone Connector (one or both):
      • 3.5 mm Microphone In & Audio Out Mini-Jack Connectors
      • USB
    • Noise-Canceling microphone (recommended)
  • Internet Access - for initial licensing
  • Administrator privileges - for installation
  • Access to Windows installation media - for language support

New Features in 3.1:

  • Vista compliant
  • Supports non-English versions of Microsoft® Windows
  • Supports full translation for Chinese and Arabic including speech recognition

Bugs fixed in 3.1:

  • TTS Synthesis Thread - wait event doesn't always fire
  • English2Spanish user cannot install onto Spanish version of Windows
  • Consecutive long speeches get lost
  • MSI Error 2762
  • "Enable Continuous Repeat" disables English ASR
  • Multiple installs *MUST* have the same destination folder
  • English2Spanish user is unable to map his windows account to an SGTM account
  • Boostrapper install check for ASR
  • "Translate" command causes English text to be erased
  • Interact needs its own file for application logging
  • Creation of Voice Profile on Configure screen kills ASR
  • Volume of TTS is set to null after switching to Default User Config
  • Messages about invalid XML document are in the log file

New Features in 3.0.1:

  • Improved installation for Administrator and Limited Users

New Features in 3.0:

  • Improved speech recognition for both English and foreign speakers
  • New, more intuitive GUI controls
  • Improved image editing with the Visualize feature
  • Improved New User Wizard
  • Introductory videos for all languages including English
  • Improved licensing support
  • Improved installation
  • More robust error handling
  • Ability to save log files as rtf/doc types
  • Improved documentation including User Guide and Quick Start Guide
  • Improved support including website, FAQ and Release Notes

Here are some suggestions for optimal performance:

  • Do not leave the microphone on and unattended for more than a few minutes. It will automatically shut down and may be difficult to restart.
  • Plug the microphone in before launching Interact. It is difficult for the Interact application to detect and recover from microphone changes while it's running.
  • Speech recognition using the default profile is alright but not excellent. We suggest you train a profile for each speaker in their primary language.
  • Use the switch on the microphone to turn it off after each sentence is spoken. The microphone will pick up ambient noise and try to translate this, too.
  • Speak and translate at most one or two sentences at a time.
  • Switching between English and European languages might be rather slow (5-10 sec). This is dependent on the computer processor speed. We suggest that the English speaker say and translate several things and then the European language speaker do the same. If the switch takes longer than 10 seconds, try clicking on the microphone button. However, resist clicking over and over. This will make it slower. If it completely hangs, you may need to re-launch Interact.
  • Chinese installation
    • Install the Chinese language pack before you install Interact
    • You must have the OS localized to Chinese in order to train the Chinese speech recognition. Speech recognition will work fine in English localized OS but training is only available in the Chinese localized OS.

If you have any trouble with your microphone

Be sure to set the Control Panel:Audio Devices according to these steps. See also the User Guide section entitled Getting Started: Setting Up Your Microphone: Troubleshooting Devices.

Windows XP

  1. Click on the Start menu
  2. Select Control Panel
    1. If in Classic View select Sounds and Audio Devices
    2. If in Category View select Sounds, Speech and Audio Devices and then Sounds and Audio Devices
  3. Select the Audio tab of the tabbed interface
  4. Under Sound Recording, set the default device to your USB choice (e.g. C-Media USB Headphone Set)
  5. Under Sound Playback, set the default device to your computer's internal sound card (e.g. SoundMax HD Audio 0)
  6. Warning: do not select your USB microphone as your playback device or you will get no audio playback.
  7. Uncheck the box labeled: Use only default devices
  8. Click Apply
  9. Click OK

Windows Vista

  1. Click on the Start menu
  2. Select Control Panel
    1. If in Classic View select Sound
    2. If in Category View select Hardware and Sound and then Manage Audio Devices
  3. Under Recording, set the default device to your microphone choice (e.g. C-Media USB Headphone Set)
  4. Under Playback, set the default device to your computer's speakers (e.g. Creative AudioPCI)
  5. Warning: do not select your USB microphone as your playback device or you will get no audio playback.
  6. Click Apply
  7. Click OK

Known Bugs


If you still have a question for us, or suggestions as to new features we should add, or any feedback, please email support@speechgear.com. Include the product you are using, the version number (found in the “About” tab of the software) and your contact information. Well get back to you right away with an answer.