The Human Language Technology Lab aims to solve problems and explore techniques in Chinese information retrieval and in Chinese information extraction and natural language understanding; and to explore different algorithms that can be put into practical use in natural language applications. The lab's key areas of research include natural language understanding using computational linguistics, Chinese internet information retrieval and extraction, Cantonese speech processing, intelligent Chinese dialect recognition, a neural network parser for the Chinese language, and standardization and open systems.

Highlights of Achievements

• One of the projects from the Human Language Technology Lab is the Cantonese romanization of the ISP/IEC 10646-1:2000 standard. The project produced the Cantonese Pronunciation List of the Characters for Computers. A total of 29,145 Hanzi characters from ISP/IEC 10646-1:2000 and HKSCS-2001 were romanized using the Cantonese romanization scheme, which is called Jyutping.
• Another research effort from the Human Language Technology Lab led to the development of two sets of reference guides on Chinese character glyphs for Chinese computer systems in Hong Kong. One is the Kai style, the other is the Song style. The reference guides cover all Hanzi characters in ISO/IEC 10646-1:2000. These Hanzi characters can be decomposed into components. Chinese Character Search System has been developed as a tool to assist bi-directional searches of ISO/IEC 10646 Chinese characters and components.
• ASAB98 is a text-to-speech system developed by the Human Language Technology Lab. The system is able to read out Windows commands, convert Chinese characters in websites or word documents to speech or even to Braille code when the computer is connected with proper hardware. With a built-in input method, ASAB98 offers a way for blind people to use computers.

http://www4.comp.polyu.edu.hk/~cclab/

Who should I approach for further details?
Check out the website of PolyU's Research Office, or
Contact Ms. Katie Cheung, Departmental Research Committee Secretary
Telephone: (852) 2766-7303
Facsimile: (852) 2774-0842
Email: cskatie@comp.polyu.edu.hk