IMAX could use AI to translate original content in real time
IMAX, the Canadian production theater company, has reportedly announced a partnership with Dubai-based Camb.AI to offer its content globally in localized languages. On Monday, the company reportedly announced that it will use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to translate the original content into 140 languages so that viewers can enjoy it in their local language. Notably, the technology will only be introduced in IMAX-branded theaters, according to the report. With this move, IMAX is believed to be targeting the increasing popularity of non-English content worldwide.
IMAX is reportedly using AI to translate original content
According to a TechCrunch reportthe production theater company has joined forces with Camb.AI, an AI company specialized in speech models. With this partnership, IMAX reportedly plans to release its entire content library in localized content worldwide.
From a strategic perspective, the company would focus on the rising popularity of South Korean, Indonesian and other Southeast Asian content in Western countries and the rest of the world. While such content is available with subtitles on various platforms, dubbed content is less available due to higher production costs.
However, so far, AI-based dubbing has not been widely adopted. IMAX, on the other hand, plans to offer real-time AI voice translations in theaters around the world. This means that theaters in every country get the company’s original content in their native language. The report did not specify how IMAX will address the challenge of showing content in regions with multiple local languages, such as India.
Camb.AI has reportedly deployed its AI dubbing and voice translations for live sporting events such as the Australian Open, Eurovision Sport and Major League Soccer. It uses the Boli model that specializes in speech-to-text translation, and Mars that performs speech emulation. Both models are part of the AI company’s DubStudio platform, which supports 140 languages.
Akshat Prakash, the co-founder and Chief Technical Officer of Camb.AI, told TechCrunch that unlike companies like OpenAI and Anthropic, it is not trying to expand its AI tech stack horizontally, but is instead focusing on improving vertically his offer. The executive also highlighted that some of its large language models (LLMs) have fewer than 100 million parameters.
