Video Story
Watch Video10th Mountain Division using iPods to communicate in Iraq
Story By: Bea Karnes
Source: NBC
A small Florida company has turned one of the world's most popular high tech gadgets into a tool for American troops that can help save lives.
"They speak with their hands a lot," US Army Sergeant Darren Williams said, remembering the times he worked to communicate with the local people during his year as a soldier in Iraq. "If you grab something, or if you say, 'Hold it.' Or, 'Pick it up. Pick it up.' You use that a lot, too," the Jacksonville-based Army recruiter said, waving his hands through a series of gestures.
For Williams, often the only way to reach around the language barrier he faced in Iraq was with his hands. "You might take a picture out of your wallet and say, 'Children. You, children?'" he said, pointing at the palm of his hand, and then straight ahead, remembering conversations he had with Iraqi nationals.
Over there, English isn't always understood. Interpreters aren't always around, but communication is always crucial.
Stories like Sergeant Williams' inspired a small company in Orlando to come up with a tool that could translate for Americans working at the street level. They wanted something small, something rugged, and something that soldiers already knew how to use. So they put all their software into an off-the shelf iPod.
In action, the "Vcommunicator Mobile" gets strapped to a soldier's wrist, out of the way.
Using the wheel on the front of the iPod Nano, the American scrolls to the phrase they want to say. Then, with a single click, barriers are broken. From a speaker strapped just below the soldier's elbow, a recorded voice speaks the chosen phrase perfectly in the local language.
A version for Iraq knows Arabic and Kurdish. Another type knows Afghanistan's two main languages.
"Because it's hooked up to a speaker, or we can hook it up this megaphone, it's especially useful at checkpoints, if someone's walking toward you. Because the 'friend or foe' is really hard to tell," explained Ernie Bright, a member of the team at VCom 3D, the company that developed the device.
As the recorded voice plays, the iPod's screen lights up, too. A lifelike animated soldier shows culturally appropriate gestures to go along with the words. Just below the image of the soldier, the phrase is also sounded out in our alphabet. If all else fails, the soldier can click the button again to show the words printed out on the screen in the local language. Folks can read and then react.
The phrases are organized by situation: running a checkpoint, a raid, offering medical help, buying supplies, and so on. "It starts in the order of how you communicate. So, we start off with a greeting, and then we kind of go through how we would actually do a checkpoint," Bright explained.
The company says it has taken over Apple's operating system, so you can't use it to entertain yourself, but you can use it to train yourself. A pair of earbuds and some time in the Vcommunicator Mobile's vocabulary section can teach soldiers key phrases that are used on a day-to-day basis.
Troops in the Army's 10th Mountain Division are using about 300 of these tools in Iraq right now. They're heading off the confrontations and communication confusion that can put lives at risk. The military devices cost about $2,000 each, including hardware, software, training, and technical support.
The company is planning to release a civilian version in the coming months that can help out everyday Americans traveling overseas.
