Monday, 10 December 2007

HP Partners Korean Start-Up, Licenses Mobile Text-to-voice Solution

Hewlett Packard (HP) has announced a licensing agreement with Korean start-up company Mouscan to develop a product that will offer people a way to listen to printed text.

Mouscan, whose technological expertise lies with scanning and mouse will use HP’s handheld scanning technology and its own text-to-voice software to develop Voiscan, a product that will allow people to scan hard copy text in any language using a handheld device and then receive a spoken translation of the scanned text.

If successful, the technology has the potential serve as an invaluable tool for the blind and visually impaired, a translation tool for tourists traveling in foreign countries and an educational aid for those learning to speak another language.

"HP welcomes partnerships with start-ups like Mouscan to help them find capital while giving new life to technology developed in HP Labs," said Joe Beyers, vice president, Intellectual Property Licensing, HP.

The Voiscan product incorporates a handheld scanning technology invented by HP Labs, the company's central research unit. Unlike most scanners, HP's handheld scanning technology does not require the scanned image to be laid flat; this allows the user to scan images on a wall or other vertical surfaces.

HP's scanning technology also allows users to scan a large image with multiple passes of the device, which then digitally reassembles the overall image out of the segments captured during each pass.

This capability makes Voiscan an ideal solution for the visually impaired or those traveling to foreign countries to understand signage - whether a menu posted outside a restaurant or a description of a painting on a museum wall.
"Breakthroughs in mobile and wireless technologies are revolutionizing the way people use technology in their everyday lives," said Yang Yu, chief executive officer, Mouscan.

"This pioneering handheld scanning technology developed by HP allows us to bring to market a unique device that facilitates communication from text to audio anywhere, anytime and in any language."

Under the agreement, HP will license its intellectual property to Mouscan in return for royalty payments. Mouscan will develop, manufacture and sell the product, which the company expects to be commercially available worldwide by the end of 2008.