new kannada keyboard
The Gesture-based Keyboard (GKB) is a pen-based technology that will allow Kannada and other vernacular scripts to be recorded and stored directly in the computer without the use of a conventional keyboard.
In a HP techcon, I actually happened to meet the guy behind this keyboard (can’t remember his name) and we moved to a corner where he demoed the device to a few of us there. I tried it out and found it a bit innacurate at first, but he simply recalibarated it, and from then on it worked perfectly. It was pretty simple – the learning curve was very small. I felt the idea was simply brilliant! It was based on partial handwriting recognition as well as touch-typing paradigms. Each of the characters are in the keys, one simply draws the extensions to the character to get the complete character! 8)
Some excerpts from news articles…
GKB can also be used as a mouse and allows the capture of signatures, pictures and other visual elements. The device is expected to be manufactured and distributed by a third party, based on technology licensed from HP. The product is expected to be in the range of Rs.2,000 and Rs. 3,000 and is likely to hit the market by the end of this month.
Unlike other prevailing Indian language entry methods, which either use bilingual keyboards or display the Indic keyboard layout on a monitor, HP GKB is a low-cost and rugged solution that helps solve the phonetic language entry problem by allowing users to input data the way most people learn to write — with a pen.
This simple but intuitive data entry method could make it easier to communicate for people who may not understand English or know how to type.
“The gesture-based keyboard can help bridge the digital divide by simplifying the use of IT,”
HP launches gesture-based keyboard, The Hindu, 16 March 2006
HP India makes revolutionary keyboard, The Financial Express, 16 March 2006, PTI
HPs gesture-based keyboard for Kannada, Business Standard, 16 March 2006
HPs Input Device Enables Vernacular Language Users , EFY Times, 16 March 2006, Malovika Rao
Kannada keyboard , CIOL, 16 March 2006, Cyber Media News
HP unveils pen keyboard for Indian languages, The Economic Times, 16 March 2006, IANS
HP Labs Indias new pen-based keyboard for PC, Deccan Herald, 16 March 2006
That sounds really cool!
I too remember checking out a demo and also getting impressed by inputting my name way back in the (nov-dec 2004) techcon!! wonder why it took so much time for the launch.
The keyboard looks cool!
Yeah Shruti, its a really nice invention – I think it will help a lot of people! Kalyan, I guess these things go through a lot of red tape!
JD, there’s definitely a lot of elegance in its simplicity. Wow nice to hear from you over here! 🙂
[JD is the host of my website, thanks to his excellent service – which he does completely for free – that I was lucky enough to get one of the best, most advanced platforms for blogging!]
in one of the seminars in HP Labs, one of the people, I forgot his name, was saying that the biggest inhibhition IT illiterate people have about computers is about buttons. The fear that pressing the wrong buttons is going to spoil an expensive device. And guess what keyboards have – they’re full of buttons!!
I feel this inhibhition is only initial, after all my 60 year old mother was really scared of computers, but now she quite comfortably plays solitaire and minesweeper and keeps bugging me to install new games, and also checks her email (both yahoo as well as gmail) quite comfortably!
Anyway, he was talking about a revolutionary fundamental change in the design of a keyboard… I haven’t seen anything so far… however this one comes close 🙂
Hello Everybody, the product is now available from Prodigy Labs Private ltd. We have bought the technology from HP and are now reselling the same in India. The keyboard is priced at Rs 2499/- +Taxes. You could contact me at harsha(at)prodigylabs.com if you require the same.
Thanks/Harsha