BARCELONA – Silicon Valley-based start-up wordly was named the winner of the Tech Watch Award at IBTM World today at the Fira Gran Via Barcelona.
(L to R): Kirk Hendrickson, COO, wordly; Lakshman Rathnam, founder and CEO, wordly; David Thompson, event director, IBTM World; Corbin Ball, chair of the judging committee; Joe Atkinson, director and co-founder, Lineup Ninja; Gordon Johnston, director and co-founder, Lineup Ninja
The start-up was named the winner thanks to its intelligent interpreting services, leveraging voice recognition, and artificial intelligence (AI). The technology can translate between 15 languages and eliminates the need for events to hire translating equipment or personnel, therefore providing a much needed, cost-effective solution for the global meetings and events industry.
“We are honoured and humbled to win the prestigious IBTM World Tech Watch Award,” Kirk Hendrickson, COO of wordly, said upon receiving the award. “The award is a validation that the industry needs a scalable, cost effective, on-demand solution to overcome language barriers. wordly language-on-demand intelligent interpreting is focused on leveraging cutting-edge AI to bring people together and include all participants in their preferred language.”
Using the wordly app, users can access via Wi-Fi a translated version of a live speech in their chosen language, both in audio and text formats, using their mobile devices and headsets.
Corbin Ball, who chaired the judging committee, comments: “We are delighted to crown wordly as this year’s overall winner. One of the main goals of IBTM’s Tech Watch Award is to highlight emerging technology trends impacting the meetings and events industry. wordly is a perfect example of how voice recognition and AI can assist our industry in offering an innovative, broader and less expensive way to real-time interpretation services, for both online and live events.
“What sets wordly apart from services like Google Translate, which provide a one-to-one translation experience between the software and the user, is the instant translation from one speaker to many listeners, in multiple languages, simultaneously.”
The Tech Watch People’s Choice Award went to Lineup Ninja, a management software used to manage conference content.
The panel of judges was made up of influencers in the events and technology industries, including Michelle Bruno, president of Bruno Group Signature Events; Dahlia El Gazzar, founder of DAHLIA+ Inc; Ruud Janssen, founder of TNOC.org and co-founder EMG; Pádraic Gilligan, managing Partner at SoolNua; Martin Sirk, Owner of Sirk Serendipity; and James Morgan PhD CSEP, Principal Lecturer in Event Design and Technology at the University of Westminster.
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