HP Labs India

Daily TECH
April 09, 2006

Unfortunately for Hindi users, the QWERTY keyboard isn't very character friendly. HP wants to change that

Hewlett-Packard has unveiled the "Gesture Keyboard," a device that reads hand movements and allows users to enter text in either of India's two major languages -- Hindi or English. The idea is designed to help Indians that cannot proficiently use PCs because many PCs are based strictly on English. While English is very prevalent among educated Indians, the majority of Indians who are not educated speak and read local dialects instead. The new technology was demonstrated at HP Labs headquarters last week and is being worked on by researchers at HP Labs India. The 6x6 inch device was released in India about two weeks ago and costs users ~$50. According to the San Jose Mercury News:

The same approach could make personal computers more attractive to millions of other people all over the world whose languages use scripts, rather than the Roman alphabet common in Western culture.

Because the overseas market is growing so rapidly, it is crucial for HP to make adaptations and technology breakthroughs in these countries. The gesture keyboard could be implemented in China and the Middle East, along with any other country which uses a non-Western characters.

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