MIT reinvents the Post-It note... with Post-It notes

by Nilay Patel, posted May 1st 2008 at 11:56PM

We've seen countless attempts to re-invent the Post-It note, but no one's ever really managed to improve on the basic design -- which might be why MIT's "Quickies" concept doesn't even try. The electronic note system is instead based around a digital pen and special pad, which saves your notes as you jot them down on RFID-embedded Post-Its. Software on your PC then does some quick OCR and, according to the inventors, "uses its understanding of the user's intentions, content, and the context of the notes to provide the user with reminders, alerts, messages, and just-in-time information." Since the database can also store location information, sticking the note on a book or other object allows you to locate it later using the RFID tag, and you can even have notes SMS'd to their recipients. Pretty wild -- but we're more impressed someone finally found a good use for all those digital pens out there. Check a video of the system in action after the break.

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Tags: mit, post it, post it notes, post-it, post-it notes, Post-itNotes, PostIt, PostItNotes, quickies

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Neutral

Sudo @ May 2nd 2008 12:07AM

Marvelous

Neutral

Eric M. @ May 2nd 2008 12:13AM

MIT does it again? I wonder what the price would be for one of these..

Neutral

Eric @ May 2nd 2008 12:20AM

Apple already made electronic post-it notes:

http://www.flamingmailbox.com/maccomedy/movies/postitnote.html

Neutral

Striker @ May 2nd 2008 12:32AM

It might just be me, but the link labeled "Post-It" does not work, as I think it is a link to application data.

Neutral

webon @ May 2nd 2008 1:18AM

what ever you say Mr. Norris, yo word is tha law!

Neutral

ethana2 @ May 2nd 2008 1:20AM

Doesn't work for me either.
chrome://performancing/content/editor/engadget.com/tag/post-it

Neutral

Striker @ May 2nd 2008 1:24AM

@webon

Damn straight!

Yay! I just changed my Firefox Client ID to the iPhone WebKit, TO STARBUCKS!

Neutral

Dillon @ May 2nd 2008 1:21AM

Aww... at first when I saw the article title, and the pictures, I thought this was some kind of e-ink display with a tiny CPU representing a post-it note of the future. Instead it's this...

I thought you weren't supposed to care about post-it notes, and what happens to them :s

Neutral

Jeremy @ May 2nd 2008 1:32AM

POST-IT NOTE TO SELF:

Buy this.

Neutral

madwh @ May 2nd 2008 1:34AM

I don't see this as being adopted by the masses, seems too complicated. Would I have to open a program before it recognizes the note? Does it automatically send SMSs and print pages? (I hope not) If not, just seems too complicated, why would you write it down instead of doing it directly on the computer? I'm saying this because I highly doubt the automated process works how it's supposed to in more than 40% of the time. I'm definitely not against this kind of innovation, I just think it needs a lot of work until it's reliable.

Neutral

BLTonRye @ May 2nd 2008 2:20AM

Spoken like a true American. Let's dumb it down for the masses. (or perhaps a different scenario - the masses get it fine and you're the one who's stumped.)

Neutral

Ronald @ May 2nd 2008 2:44AM

I'm sure the software would probably have to be open, but most applications that you think should be open all the time have a "startup" option. And most likely have some type of configuration so you can turn off any unwanted features.

I know what you're saying about why not typing it directly on the computer... but picture this scenario:

you leave your PC on in your room and leave off to work. Your mom/dad/girlfriend/wife wants to remind you of some event happening that same day after you get out of work (assuming you cant pick up your cellphone at work) rather then having to go up to your computer (which might even be password protected) and type up a note on your calendar application; they can grab one of these post-it notes that you left on fridge, write down the reminder, which then gets sent to your computer wirelessly... if you have your calendar app be sync with your home pc and work pc, then you might even get this note directly at work.

So i think this innovation could be very useful to some people.

Neutral

Ryan @ May 14th 2008 1:05AM

I would use the hell out of this thing at work because I could go get numerous samples of things to run tests on and everytime I do that 1-3 people ask me to check on something else while I'm making my rounds. I could just jot it down and when I got back to the lab hook that up and have it on the computer that I do all the data analysis on anyways so I would be less likely to forget plus more efficient since I wouldn't have to come back out there to ask them what they wanted. Granted, not the masses, but I could make very good use of this thing at my job.

Neutral

AndrewT @ May 2nd 2008 2:29AM

From what I read, you put a "Bob's Wallet" note in Bob's wallet and Bob never misplaces his wallet again! At least within the range of the RFID reader? Think instead of tagging your files and folder on the computer, you can now tag physical objects and have it automatically upload to a electronic database and inventory!

Or maybe I read it wrong. The SMS, emails, to-do, and calendar are already crazy enough.

Low Ranked

Galley @ May 2nd 2008 8:31AM

I already own an electronic Post-It note. It's called the iPhone.

Neutral

Andy Edmonds @ May 2nd 2008 8:50AM

James Landay and the folks at UC Berkeley compsci had a similar system for post-its on a whiteboard back in '01.

Neutral

George @ May 2nd 2008 10:38AM

I need those!

Neutral

jared @ May 2nd 2008 10:55AM

Just looks like stikkit.com in the "real world".

Neutral

DrNik @ May 2nd 2008 11:59AM

Isn't this just iogear's Digital Scribe? The dock seems to have the logo on it, and the system is designed to work with an type/size of paper. Looks to me like the only innovation is the software backend that processes your input, plus the RFID whose value is questionable.

Neutral