Parents who can't be bothered to read their kids a bedtime story might soon have an easy way to get out of the task - books that can talk.

 

An IT company in the city has completed a sample book using the technology, but admits much more research is needed before the product will start to show up on store shelves.

 

Following a year of research, Boya IT Co has produced a copy of "The Three Little Pigs" that children can read by themselves in the traditional manner or use a scanner that reads the text and speaks it out aloud, the Shanghai Science and Technology Commission announced yesterday.

 

A bar code printed below each line of text in the book can be read by a scanner, which is currently the size of a small tape recorder, according to Chen Mingjiu, who is leading research on the project.

 

"We recorded the story and transferred the sound file into the bar codes," said Chen. "The scanner can read the lines aloud through the mini loudspeaker when it is passed over the code bar. One scanner could be used to read any paper audio book."

 

Gong Liming, an official with the science commission, said the books should prove especially popular with young readers.

 

"Children are more interested in books that read stories for them, and it is a good way to arouse their love for reading," said Gong.

 

Wang Pengyu, a five-year-old boy, said he was impressed after "reading" the sample book as he "never thought a book could talk."

 

More work needs to be done before the books are ready for market, however.

 

"We expect to reduce the size of the scanner. Maybe the size of a pen is ideal," said Chen.

 

He said the cost of producing the books is only 10 to 15 percent higher than the cost of a normal, but the cost of current scanners may be too high for most consumers.

 

(Shanghai Daily November 11, 2006)