Logitech has launched a personal digital pen that captures everything that users write or draw on paper. The Logitech IO pen allows handwritten information, unchanged for thousands of years, to join the digital age.
The pen downloads information to the PC, where it can be shared, stored, organised and retrieved - like any other piece of digital information.
"The Logitech IO makes handwriting an effective tool for the digital world without changing the way you work or requiring extra equipment," says Garreth Hayes, a Logitech marketing executive.
"The IO pen allows handwritten meeting notes to be searched for and retrieved, without needing to keep the piece of paper on which the information was written.
"This allows users to refer back to what was discussed and agreed. The pen can also be used to convey ideas in sketches or diagrams and then send that image to someone in another location."
According to Hayes, the Logitech IO offers total mobility, since the user only needs to carry the pen and a digital paper notebook. As a result, it is now possible to create an e-mail anywhere it is possible to write.
"Users can specify an e-mail address on the document itself. The letter or drawing can then be sent automatically the next time the pen is docked with the PC, with limited handwriting recognition by means of ICR [Intelligent Character Recognition] fields analysing the e-mail address," he adds.
Handwritten information can also be exported to popular applications such as Microsoft Word or Adobe Illustrator, allowing users to easily add their signature to typed documents or e-mails, for instance. They can also create an electronic Post-It Note, or handwrite a calendar entry in popular calendar programs such as Microsoft Outlook or Lotus Notes.
As well as an ordinary nib, the pen contains a miniature optical sensor that behaves like a camera, capturing the handwriting or images and storing them in the pen`s memory. The digital paper that enables the capture of handwritten notes contains patented pre-printed tiny dots.
Although these dots are almost invisible to the naked eye, the optical sensor uses them to track and record the pen`s movement. This information can then be transferred to the PC by docking the pen in a USB cradle. Up to 40 pages of information can be stored and transferred at a time.
The Logitech IO uses functionality developed by Anoto, a company whose pen-and-paper technology is emerging as a worldwide standard for digital writing. The pen itself is the key component of an ecosystem that includes leading paper manufacturers like Groupe Hamelin and 3M Post-It Notes.
The personal organiser company Filofax has also recently joined this alliance.
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