HP Labs to focus on computing

HP Labs India, part of HP's global R&D network, has announced it is working on a couple of projects which might have a deep impact on how people access the power of computing.

In addition to these projects at the India centre, HP Labs globally is set to shortly announce enhanced printing solutions using the liquid electro-photography (LEP) technology for high-speed, offset-quality colour printing.

Said Ajay Gupta, HP Labs India Director: "Local language access to the IT infrastructure is one of the key areas we are working on and also on the area of how the existing broadcast network can be used to trigger a paradigm shift in data communication and how TV is being consumed. We are working on a couple of projects which will go into field trials within this year."

Gupta, who recently took over from the much-acclaimed Dr S Ramani, said: "When the usage of IT increases and includes a larger user population, it becomes necessary to create vastly simpler user interfaces. Very simple interfaces are called for which will need necessary compromises with regard to the range of activities that can be carried out over these interfaces. A promising area in this regard is that of handwriting as an input modality besides the speech communication between users and computers."

He added that HP Labs' strategy in language technology is to focus on the multi-language problem, and make the underlying systems modular .