Peter Lee, Microsoft Research corporate vice president, shares insights and a sneak peek into the Skype Translator, derived from decades of research in speech-recognition, automatic-translation, and machine-learning technologies. Skype Translator is being developed jointly by the Skype and Microsoft Research teams, and combines voice and IM technologies with Microsoft Translator along with neural-network-based speech recognition to deliver near-real-time cross-lingual communication. With the Skype Translator, we're one step closer to universal communications across language barriers, enabling people to connect in ways never before possible. In Lee's words, "It's truly magical."