Bangalore: Researchers at the HP Labs India have developed a prototype of "Script Form", a low-cost device which enables people to write by hand and send mails in Indian languages at an affordable cost.

The note-book sized machine, designed to be rugged for use in the country, adopts visual compression technique and intelligent character recognition to send handwritten mails.

"The device is simple to operate and costs a fraction of a conventional computer," HP Labs India Research Director Dr S Ramani said.

The Bangalore-based one-and-half year-old HP Labs India, one of the seven of global IT major HP in the world, works on developing affordable solutions for countries like India for the business units of HP.

A special ultra sound-based position-sensitive pen is used for writing on a paper, which then is picked up by sensors for display on the screen of the device and later transmitted as a bitmap image through a land-line or a mobile phone.

"The email ID is the only thing to be written in English. The rest of the letter can be written in any language. At present in Hindi and Tamil but many more in future," HP Labs Department Manager Dr Shekhar Borgaonkar, who conceived the device said. PTI