“Sinhala text to speech” – for visually impaired

The official launching of the software “Nuwana Sinhala Text to Speech” developed by the Software Engineering Services Division (SESD) of the Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology (SLIIT) was held recently.The development of the new software came to light as result of a request made by Sri Lanka Council for the Blind the SESD of SLIIT to explore the possibilities of developing a software which would open doors of knowledge to the visually impaired.
Accordingly the Head of SESD Yashas Mallawarchchi appointed a project team in order to achieve this. It was decided to hand over the research component to the academic staff of SLIIT. Accordingly, Dean / Research of SLIIT Dr. Koliya Pulasinghe guided a dedicated batch of students, who undertook an year’s extensive research, to develop an appropriate software engine.
It took the project team another four months to complete the latter stages of the development process to come up with the required software. What made it all so special was the fact that Mr Samson Perera, a visually impaired professional representing the Sri Lanka Council for the Blind has been working hand in hand with the project team from day one. Mr Perera who works for the Sri Lanka Council for the Blind is well conversant with Microsoft Word and Excel. He undertakes training for the visually impaired at the Council. “His insights were invaluable right through out the development process” Mr Mallawarachchi Head of the Project Team commented.
“Nuwana Sinhala Text to Speech” software will be made available to all those interested, free of charge by the Sri Lanka Council for the Blind. It would help the visually impaired to read a document, to use it to type Sinhala text and for proof reading. This software comes in handy as it improves the accuracy levels of their Sinhala typing as well.“Information Technology has revolutionized our lives, almost beyond imagination. We at SLIIT believe in bringing the best of education and training in Information Technology to our nation. This is an instance where we took one step further in order to channel our services towards the benefit of our people, to open the doors of wisdom to the differently abled among us” said Professor S. Karunaratne Chairman of SLIIT.
source:-http://www.itpro.lk/?q=node/1748