Enlightening minds. Enriching lives. Tamil Digital Industry Badri Seshadri K.S.Nagarajan New Horizon Media

Enlightening minds. Enriching lives. English vs Indian Languages Computer and mobile phones are designed with English in mind. Computer and mobile phones are designed with English in mind. Can be extended easily to Roman script. Can be extended easily to Roman script. Indian scripts and languages require lot of work to be ported to computers and mobile phones. Indian scripts and languages require lot of work to be ported to computers and mobile phones. You and us have to work together to make this happen. You and us have to work together to make this happen.

Enlightening minds. Enriching lives. Difficulties a Tamil user has to face Can’t read Tamil on my computer Can’t read Tamil on my computer Can’t understand the encoding Can’t understand the encoding Each website asks for loading a different font Each website asks for loading a different font Tamil is broken in my computer Tamil is broken in my computer “It is too much trouble, so I gave up.” “It is too much trouble, so I gave up.” Tamil in mobile? Are you kidding? Tamil in mobile? Are you kidding?

Enlightening minds. Enriching lives. Transparent services a Tamil user needs Read Tamil – without pain, installation, knowledge of computers etc. Read Tamil – without pain, installation, knowledge of computers etc. Write in Tamil – in every application, easily and naturally. Write in Tamil – in every application, easily and naturally. And much more. And much more. Same in mobile phones – send and receive SMS in Tamil, read WAP sites, use applications that understand Tamil. Same in mobile phones – send and receive SMS in Tamil, read WAP sites, use applications that understand Tamil.

Enlightening minds. Enriching lives. Services / Products one requires

Enlightening minds. Enriching lives. READ Unicode encoding Unicode encoding Built-in Unicode encoded fonts Built-in Unicode encoded fonts Uniscribe engine (or equivalent) for complex languages Uniscribe engine (or equivalent) for complex languages Operating system level support Operating system level support Application level support Application level support

Enlightening minds. Enriching lives. READ - Current Status Windows / Linux / Macs – different levels of sync. Windows / Linux / Macs – different levels of sync. Windows XP – requires separate upgradation. Vista, already enabled. Windows XP – requires separate upgradation. Vista, already enabled. Linux – Fedora Core 6 works. Others – may vary. Linux – Fedora Core 6 works. Others – may vary. Mac – Tiger onwards Tamil support, but limited application level support. Mac – Tiger onwards Tamil support, but limited application level support.

Enlightening minds. Enriching lives. READ - What do we require? Vista – nothing. Vista – nothing. Windows XP – a single click installation setup (from an external CD, not from the OS CD), or through online download. Windows XP – a single click installation setup (from an external CD, not from the OS CD), or through online download. Linux – same as above. Make every new build automatically support Tamil. Linux – same as above. Make every new build automatically support Tamil. Mac – same as above. Mac – same as above. Default free fonts. Default free fonts.

Enlightening minds. Enriching lives. READ – Mobile phones Need Unicode support (including complex rendering) in every handset. Need Unicode support (including complex rendering) in every handset. Simple Unicode Tamil font installed in every handset. Simple Unicode Tamil font installed in every handset. Make it mandatory for selling in Tamil Nadu/ India. Make it mandatory for selling in Tamil Nadu/ India.

Enlightening minds. Enriching lives. WRITE Use roman keyboard to type in Tamil – using different key maps Use roman keyboard to type in Tamil – using different key maps Through use of plugin or OS level support Through use of plugin or OS level support Browser level support (browser plugins) Browser level support (browser plugins) Online application Online application

Enlightening minds. Enriching lives. WRITE - Current Status Some free and paid software available Some free and paid software available Microsoft supported Bhasha India product Microsoft supported Bhasha India product Nothing that comes built-in with Windows(?) Nothing that comes built-in with Windows(?) Minimal Murasu support in Mac (comes bundled with Tiger+) Minimal Murasu support in Mac (comes bundled with Tiger+) Support in Linux platforms through SCIM, and others. Support in Linux platforms through SCIM, and others.

Enlightening minds. Enriching lives. WRITE - What do we require? A lightweight, sophisticated plugin that can support multiple languages A lightweight, sophisticated plugin that can support multiple languages Same definition files that can be used with OS level as well as browser level plugins Same definition files that can be used with OS level as well as browser level plugins Key maps: phonetic, typewriter, other localised variations to be supported Key maps: phonetic, typewriter, other localised variations to be supported Allows users to create own key maps Allows users to create own key maps

Enlightening minds. Enriching lives. WRITE – Mobile phones OS level support for typing in Tamil (default) OS level support for typing in Tamil (default) Support for third party supplied input method Support for third party supplied input method

Enlightening minds. Enriching lives. TRANSLITERATE To convert text written in one script to another script (while keeping the sound as close as possible to the original) To convert text written in one script to another script (while keeping the sound as close as possible to the original) சாப்டாச்சா ? ചാഭ്ഢാച്ചാ ? చాభ్ఢాచ్చా ? ಚಾಭ್ಢಾಚ್ಚಾ ? चाप्टाच्चा ? caaptaaccaa? cāp ṭ āccā?

Enlightening minds. Enriching lives. TRANSLITERATE – Current status Unicode allows easy transliteration Unicode allows easy transliteration One still requires language rules to be applied for special characters One still requires language rules to be applied for special characters Easy to implement as a web service, application etc. Easy to implement as a web service, application etc.

Enlightening minds. Enriching lives. DICTIONARY Several online English dictionaries available. Several online English dictionaries available. No queryable, searchable English-Tamil, Tamil-English, Tamil-Tamil or Tamil-Any- Indian-Language search available online. No queryable, searchable English-Tamil, Tamil-English, Tamil-Tamil or Tamil-Any- Indian-Language search available online. Thus, no spell-check facility available – with commercial software or free software. Thus, no spell-check facility available – with commercial software or free software. Local applications may have some primitive support. Local applications may have some primitive support.

Enlightening minds. Enriching lives. DICTIONARY – What do we require? Text analysis tools Text analysis tools Online ‘growing’ dictionary Online ‘growing’ dictionary Multi-language support (any language to any other language) Multi-language support (any language to any other language) Web 2.0 support (APIs that can be incorporated in any site) Web 2.0 support (APIs that can be incorporated in any site) A minimal mobile dictionary (to work along with WRITE) A minimal mobile dictionary (to work along with WRITE)

Enlightening minds. Enriching lives. GRAMMAR Every Indian language has a specific and distinct grammar for sentence construction and word prefix/suffix sandhi. Every Indian language has a specific and distinct grammar for sentence construction and word prefix/suffix sandhi. Grammar can also be used for speedy spell check Grammar can also be used for speedy spell check Morphological analysis required Morphological analysis required No serious work has happened – except in Departments of Linguistics here and there No serious work has happened – except in Departments of Linguistics here and there

Enlightening minds. Enriching lives. TEXT-TO-SPEECH Try Adobe PDF reader. It can read out any English passage for you. Try Adobe PDF reader. It can read out any English passage for you. Free and paid tools available to build your own applications. Free and paid tools available to build your own applications. Create (record) phonemes for every sound in your language, then rules of breaking a word into several phonemes, pauses etc. and an application can be created to read text. Create (record) phonemes for every sound in your language, then rules of breaking a word into several phonemes, pauses etc. and an application can be created to read text.

Enlightening minds. Enriching lives. TTS – Current status Nothing exists for Tamil (and other Indian languages) Nothing exists for Tamil (and other Indian languages) Some experiments going on Some experiments going on Will also be very useful in a mobile phone Will also be very useful in a mobile phone

Enlightening minds. Enriching lives. Speech-To-Text Speech recognition – again, works fairly well for English Speech recognition – again, works fairly well for English Works for several different accents – even for various Indian English accents Works for several different accents – even for various Indian English accents Commercial applications exist – OnMobile and your mobile phone service provider Commercial applications exist – OnMobile and your mobile phone service provider Nothing available for Tamil (and other Indian languages) Nothing available for Tamil (and other Indian languages)

Enlightening minds. Enriching lives. Optical Character Recognition (OCR) Scanning a page containing printed text and interpreting the page to (digital) text Scanning a page containing printed text and interpreting the page to (digital) text A commercial (and also a free version) available for Tamil – Ponvizhi A commercial (and also a free version) available for Tamil – Ponvizhi A special case is digital handwriting recognition (Tablet PCs, handheld devices etc.) A special case is digital handwriting recognition (Tablet PCs, handheld devices etc.) Lot more can be done here Lot more can be done here

Enlightening minds. Enriching lives. TRANSLATION The holy grail! The holy grail! To automatically convert one language to another. To automatically convert one language to another. Already exists across several European languages. Already exists across several European languages. Huge scope for Indian languages and English. Huge scope for Indian languages and English.