VPen prototype beams handwritten text via Bluetooth
posted Oct 5th 2005 9:20AM
Smart pens have been
slow to take off, mainly because most of
them haven't exactly been all that smart. But that hasn't stopped developers from repeatedly attempting to create a pen
that can take text written on paper and wirelessly transfer it to a PDA, laptop or other digital device. The latest to
join the fold is the VPen, a prototype developed by European startup VIP DATA and funded by the EU's Information
Society Technologies program with help from Philips. The VPen uses an optical scanner to read text as it's written,
eliminating the need for specialized paper, and beams text to a nearby laptop or PDA via Bluetooth. OCR software
converts handwritten text, and a one-line OLED display on the pen shows the current text being captured. Needless to
say, it's an open question as to whether this will ever be commercialized — or whether it can achieve more market
success than previous pens.
[Via textually.org]
Well This would be a nifty device to have. and if it could store all that data inside the unite some how to be trabfered later that would be awsome. especially for a high school student like myself. Or i could just use my ipaq.
Um, editors. A similar product from Nokia has been out on the market: http://europe.nokia.com/nokia/0,5184,5787,00.html. In fact, I was using one yesterday. A class I'm taking provided the pens to everyone as an HCI experiment for some grad student.
logitech's io will never get off the ground with the need for specialized paper. But because it converts writing to text, I guess it won't allow you to upload drawings or charts, the most important use for a pen of this type in my opinion.
this would be a better device if:
it worked as a certified digital signature
have a finger print reader on it somewhere,
use it to sign online documents or credit card spending.
press your thumb ,
sign your name,
both show up on the documents you are signing .