FORM -2
THE PATENTS ACT, 1970 (39 of 1970) & THE PATENTS RULES, 2003
PROVISIONAL
Specification
(See Section 10 and rule 13) ELECTRONIC MESSAGING
TATA CONSULTANCY SERVICES LTD.,
an Indian Company of Nirmal Building, 9th floor, Nariman Point, Mumbai 400 021, Maharashtra, India

THE FOLLOWING SPECIFICATION DESCRIBES THE INVENTION


Field
The invention relates to the field of electronic messaging.
Background
Pen had been the dominant instrument for writing. Today we are replacing it more and more by electronic keys, which lack a personal touch. In case of Indie scripts, typing is more difficult than writing with the pen. So, one sees a tendency towards sending typed messages in Roman scripts (for example, is written as noyaa or naya). The problem here is twofold: (i) the difficulty in sending a typed message in one's own script and (ii) loss of personal touch in the message received by the user.
This invention envisages a method to synthesize electronic messages in a person's handwriting in Indie family of scripts.
Object
The objects of the present invention are: A method and apparatus that enables two or more people to communicate and exchange information over the electronic communication system in a simple, easy to learn, aesthetically appealing and personalized manner.
This invention provides a system and apparatus for generating electronic messages in the Indie family of scripts in a form emulating a person's own handwriting.
In accordance with this invention there is provided a framework for synthesis of personalized handwritten script in the form of an electronic image from input in
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phonetic Roman form of an Indian language entered using handwriting samples provided by a person.
The chief features of this invention are a system to emulate the message in sender's handwriting and send to a recipient to whom the message is intended to be sent using an electronic communication network, which will use:
a. Handwriting samples, in the form of primitives derived from the
characters of a script, provided by the user who intends to send the
message (here onwards referred to as sender)
b. The matter of the message in the form of electronically typed text
(Romanized form of the message).
thereby enabling people to communicate using personalized messages either through email or mobile phone or any other electronic device and therefore breaking the monotony in the message occurring due to the limited set of device dependent fonts and further inherently impart identity (or personality) of the sender to the message.
Still further the system enables people to send the messages in their own handwritten language, while retaining the ease of use of English keyboards/keypads thereby giving authenticity to the message in a manner similar to a handwritten paper message.
The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which
Error! Reference source not found, captures the high level details of the invention. The user inputs the message as a Roman text using an input device
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like a keyboard or the keypad of a mobile phone ((1) in Figure 1). The input is parsed ((2) in Figure 1) and mapped ((3) in Figure 1) into sub-units using a database of combination rules that are language dependent.
A set of primitive samples corresponding to the user are captured (beforehand) as a sequence of x, y coordinate pairs by using an electronic device, such as a graphics tablet or a digital pen, that can capture the pen's movement and, optionally, pressure. The set of primitives are specific to a language and are pre-decided by the language script. A sample primitive set of a language (Telugu) is shown in Error! Reference source not found, of the accompanying drawings. The primitive samples are stored in a database and tagged to the user ((5) in Figures 1). The actual synthesis requires text in Roman script as input. The text input is parsed into syllabic segments. The syllabic segments are mapped to Indic aksharas. (An akshara is the composite graphic unit of an Indic script that maps to a single syllable and could be made up of any number of consonants and a single vowel). The aksharas are realized by choosing the required primitives and then suitably combining them based on the language specific combination rules. Finally, the synthesis ((6) in Figures 1) assists in assembling and formatting the synthesized aksharas. The output is in the form of an image that can be viewed electronically, using a personal computer, mobile phone or any other device capable of displaying such an image.
Key Benefits and Features
• Gives the user the ability to communicate in his or her own handwriting and in his own language.
• Combines the ease of typing with the personalization capability of handwriting.
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• Can be used to generate personalized handwritten messages to be sent via MMS, e mail or printed text. The user can send the input message by any electronic means, for example, Internet, e-mail or mobile phone.
• Can be used by greeting card businesses to automatically create greeting cards from the text provided in electronic forms by the users.
• Can be used for delivering personalized content in Indian languages.
• Can help in the development of Indian language applications, for example a portal for the farmers, that can accept Roman input, thus combining ease of use and desirability to interact in native languages.
• Gives authenticity to the message and can not be forged unlike email where you can hide or manipulate the sender information.
Although the invention has been described in terms of particular embodiments and applications, one of ordinary skill in the art, in light of this teaching, can generate additional embodiments and modifications without departing from the spirit of or exceeding the scope of the claimed invention. Accordingly, it is to be understood that the drawings and descriptions herein are proffered by way of example to facilitate comprehension of the invention and should not be construed to limit the scope thereof.
Dated this 30th day of September 2008.
Mohan Dewan Of R K Dewan & Co Applicants' Patent Attorneys
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