3 ms·

Slightly off topic, but what happened to "smart pens"? 15ish years ago,I had a pen that could draw on special paper, and do interesting things. I really thought

Slightly off topic, but what happened to "smart pens"? 15ish years ago,I had a pen that could draw on special paper, and do interesting things. I really thought that paradigm would have progressed by now. Sort of like the original optical mice needed a special pad but now can work on any surface. I like drawing on a paper notebook (I use one with a grid of dots). I'd be fine with all of the "intelligence" coming from my smartphone. Is there any progress/products on this paradigm?

spicybright 5y ago
Or going back more, light pens on CRT monitors were neat. How did the pen work in practice for you?
- intrasight 5y ago
  It was a gift to my daughter years ago. She enjoyed it very much.
azeirah 5y ago
There are multiple things in this space. * The Lenovo writing pad device - https://www.lenovo.com/nl/nl/yoga-book/ https://www.lenovo.com/nl/nl/yoga-book/ This thing is different from all other devices on the market. You can write on the device itself, or you can put a piece of paper on top of it and write on that which will simultaneously be digital iirc. * A smart clipboard, I'm sure there are non-kickstarter variations of this out there somewhere as well https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/clipboard-plus/clipboard-changing-the-way-you-work?ref=discovery&term=pen https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/clipboard-plus/clipboar... * moleskine has a smart pen + smart notebook combo that syncs live with your phone https://www.moleskine.nl/moleskine-smart-writing-ellipse-set--(c)imptseta/info/ https://www.moleskine.nl/moleskine-smart-writing-ellipse-set... * Modern pen-only solutions look like this, ie the Neo smartpen m1+ https://www.neosmartpen.com/en/neosmartpen-m1plus/ https://www.neosmartpen.com/en/neosmartpen-m1plus/
- intrasight 5y ago
  So still no smart pens that work on plain paper?
- nicbou 5y ago
  The Moleskine one is surprisingly smooth, but it's not good if you're the sort of person who wants to use different, high quality pens.
mikestew 5y ago
15ish years ago,I had a pen that could draw on special paper, and do interesting things. Anoto (https://www.anoto.com https://www.anoto.com) holds the IP on the proprietary pattern of dots used on the paper. Sure, you can make your own pattern, but Anoto's technology allows the pen to not only know where it is at on the paper (allowing it to capture pen strokes), but it also knows which piece of paper it is writing on...out of the gazillion unique sheets of paper the technology allows. So, cool stuff, but all depending on the good graces of one company. I used to work for one of their partners (now out of business), and a large part of our secret sauce was allowing one to print any document, but with the dot pattern printed under your Word doc/map/PDF. IOW, print anything and now you can write on it. Imagine printing your city map from MapGIS/ESRI, mark it up with (for example) fire hydrants, dock the pen. Now your GIS database is updated with fire hydrant locations, and you didn't have to carry a pricey PC or tablet into the field. You can still buy the technology via LiveScribe, but I don't know how it is used in enterprise scenarios, if at all anymore.

spicybright 5y ago

Or going back more, light pens on CRT monitors were neat. How did the pen work in practice for you?

intrasight 5y ago
It was a gift to my daughter years ago. She enjoyed it very much.

azeirah 5y ago

There are multiple things in this space. * The Lenovo writing pad device - https://www.lenovo.com/nl/nl/yoga-book/ https://www.lenovo.com/nl/nl/yoga-book/ This thing is different from all other devices on the market. You can write on the device itself, or you can put a piece of paper on top of it and write on that which will simultaneously be digital iirc. * A smart clipboard, I'm sure there are non-kickstarter variations of this out there somewhere as well https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/clipboard-plus/clipboard-changing-the-way-you-work?ref=discovery&term=pen https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/clipboard-plus/clipboar... * moleskine has a smart pen + smart notebook combo that syncs live with your phone https://www.moleskine.nl/moleskine-smart-writing-ellipse-set--(c)imptseta/info/ https://www.moleskine.nl/moleskine-smart-writing-ellipse-set... * Modern pen-only solutions look like this, ie the Neo smartpen m1+ https://www.neosmartpen.com/en/neosmartpen-m1plus/ https://www.neosmartpen.com/en/neosmartpen-m1plus/

intrasight 5y ago
So still no smart pens that work on plain paper?
nicbou 5y ago
The Moleskine one is surprisingly smooth, but it's not good if you're the sort of person who wants to use different, high quality pens.

mikestew 5y ago

15ish years ago,I had a pen that could draw on special paper, and do interesting things. Anoto (https://www.anoto.com https://www.anoto.com) holds the IP on the proprietary pattern of dots used on the paper. Sure, you can make your own pattern, but Anoto's technology allows the pen to not only know where it is at on the paper (allowing it to capture pen strokes), but it also knows which piece of paper it is writing on...out of the gazillion unique sheets of paper the technology allows. So, cool stuff, but all depending on the good graces of one company. I used to work for one of their partners (now out of business), and a large part of our secret sauce was allowing one to print any document, but with the dot pattern printed under your Word doc/map/PDF. IOW, print anything and now you can write on it. Imagine printing your city map from MapGIS/ESRI, mark it up with (for example) fire hydrants, dock the pen. Now your GIS database is updated with fire hydrant locations, and you didn't have to carry a pricey PC or tablet into the field. You can still buy the technology via LiveScribe, but I don't know how it is used in enterprise scenarios, if at all anymore.