Sept/Oct 2003

How would you like a digital pen that automatically sends handwritten text to any recipient, virtually without any further input from you, and works almost anywhere out in the field? That's the promise behind the Anoto handwriting recognition system, which has been taken up by a variety of worldwide technology companies including Logitech, Maxell and Sony Ericsson.

The latest implementation to hit British shores is from Destiny Wireless, a company headed by former Thales Telematics CEO Edward Belgonne, which has just launched its Destiny Wireless Digital Pen.

It's a non-captive ballpoint pen, with which you write on more or less ordinary paper. As you write, your words are scanned by a built-in camera, converted to text, encrypted, transmitted to the supplier's server, then embedded in emails or other documents for delivery to recipients or for incorporating in Web sites or software of your choice.

The pen embodies its own CMOS image sensor, ARM-based ASIC microprocessor and on-board memory, and a Bluetooth transmitter for transferring the content to a local wireless device such as a GPRS-enabled mobile phone. Alternatively, text can be stored in the pen's memory and then transferred locally to a PC.

 

The thinking is that remote workers could use one of the pens linked to a mobile phone in place of a PDA or laptop to transmit data back to base. Added benefit would be that a hard-copy version of every document would be retained in addition to the electronic version.

Part of the key to the system lies in the special Anoto paper used to write on. It has a minute grid pattern, as well as embedded "key" patterns which can be allocated to check boxes, and can instruct the pen for instance when to transmit, and which server to contact.

Sounds too good to be true? Perhaps, but Destiny Wireless says it really works. We haven't had the chance to try one out for ourselves yet, but we have no reason to doubt it.