Microsoft Open-Sources Comic Chat, the IRC Client That Turned Chat Into Manga
The open-sourcing preserves a 30-year-old experiment in visualizing online conversation and documents the software that gave Comic Sans its first major use.
Reporting from 1 source: GIGAZINE.
Microsoft released the source code for its 1996 IRC client Comic Chat under the MIT License. The repository includes code from pre-release to 1998 beta versions, plus modifications to run on modern Windows. The software converted chat conversations into manga-style panels and helped popularize the Comic Sans font.
David Kurlander developed Comic Chat in 1995 as part of Microsoft Research's Virtual Worlds Group. The software used an expert system to analyze chat messages and automatically generate manga panels with characters, expressions, and speech bubbles. Character designs came from independent manga artist Jim Woodring. The repository also includes a Java version called JChat and internal design documents. Microsoft called the release a historical archive aimed at preservation and research.
Synthesized by Yomimono from the 1 cited source below, including Japanese-language reporting where cited, then editorially reviewed before publishing.