video-remote interpreting

One year ago, we called the VIT hype a solution without a problem. In times of COVID-19 it has now become the solution to the problem. We figured this might be a good time to clarify the difference between some remote interpreting acronyms that easily get mixed up: VIT, VRI, OPI, and RSI.

While one of the key characteristics of the language industry is that so far it has been impervious to crises, the interpreting market might be the sector within the industry that has most heavily been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic—both negatively and positively.

The interpreting market is a diverse and complex sector within the language industry. There are different modes — consecutive, simultaneous, and whispered interpreting — and different modalities, i.e. onsite, over-the-phone (OPI), and video-remote interpreting (VRI). There are different types of interpreting, like medical, legal, community, and conference interpreting and all of them come with their own requirements.