Digital Pens and More

Direct pen-on-screen tablet lets you take advantage of natural hand-eye coordination and provides the feel of natural media. Ergonomic design provides a comfortable grip and natural feel along with smooth, flat surface. The design of the pen minimizes the grip effort for hours of comfortable use I did not feel tired at all, even after long hours of 3D design. Optimized for a multi-monitor work environment, gives control and precision over work and helps speed production.Cintiq is a direct pen-on-screen device that comes with a video control unit, which provides video, USB and power connections for compatibility with notebooks, desktops and workstations.  

What an amazing improvement over my existing Wacom tablet, which has the same functionality but with a less direct-input method. Being used to working with the Wacom Intuos tablet and having never felt disabled using it kept me from being overly excited with this innovative way of editing. Having control of the pen and editing directly on screen opened new doors with its ease of use.

It will take about 10 minutes to set up the Cintiq 12WX on your workstation so you can try it for a project you are working on.

It will amaze you as to how much like working with traditional mediums like paper and pencil the Cintiq is. You will be freely making strokes that combine with the flexible digital operative. The fact you can make strokes directly on the screen and see the result right beneath provides greater control and flexibility. Being able to draw right on, the screen and see the geometry being sculpted right under the pen tip makes you feel directly engaged in the digital sculpting process. This control and flexibility allows you to speed up your design work. 

I believe any product in the Cintiq line will make a great investment if you are a hardcore illustrator, Matte painter, Designer or even a hobbyist. For those who like the more traditional art background and who have been working digitally, the Cintiq is an artist’s dreams come true. an  For it allows you to combine the advantages of your natural hand-eye coordination with the benefits of a digital environment. In addition, you will still have the intuitive pen-on-paper feel of the traditional art media

The one downside I found was the tablet’s lack of portability not that Wacom claims it to be a portable device. It would however be nice too have ease access to this amazing platform when on the go.

To get the full benefits from the Livescribe Smartpen you will need the Livescribe notebook.  This notebook has paper, which is encoded with microdots.  The microdots are how the smart pen links the text to the audio files. 

Livescribe notebooks include a variety of controls at the bottom of the page.  There are areas that can create and navigate bookmarks in the audio, and control playback speed and volume.  Included is a four-arrow control that must be used to navigate the smartpens functions.  Livescribe makes the printed control available on a sheath used to protect the Pulse.   A more convenient way would be to have an integrated scroll wheel or some other means of navigating the smartpens user interface.  This way you would not have to use the printed surface.

Once a “sessions” is recorded, (which can consist of written notes, audio or both) they can be transferred to a PC.  You will need to use the docking cradle to download your sessions.  Currently Livescribe Desktop software is a Windows-only (a Mac version is slated for development) application.  You can use this to play back recorded audio or audio-synchronized note-taking sessions.  It will also allow you to search for text in the notes, or copy whole pages to the clipboard.  To bad, there is no character recognition function to turn written words into editable text.  It seems such software has been a mixed bag in previous smartpen offerings.  With the Livescribe Desktop, you cannot save pages as PDF either.  However, there are several quality free PDF print drivers so you can work around that with ease.  One option is the software allows uploading your files to Livescribe’s website to share.  There they can be shared as a PDF or Flash movie.

Livescribe gives each smartpen owner 250MB of online storage.  There Livescribe users can store or share documents and creating a community around them.  LiveScribe has in essence created a new form of media that it has dubbed “pencasts”. 

As impressive, as the Smartpens note-taking function is it is still in its infancy.  It is just the birth of what Livescribe aims to turn into a whole ecosystem of pen-based applications.  Livescribe includes some intriguing demos on their website.  One of them allows you to draw your own playable piano. In addition, one can recognize a few words and display the translation for them in a number of languages on the device’s display. Livescribe has plans to make a range of content and software development tools available.  Currently they will appeal to different kinds of developers, including Java coders.

The Livescribe smartpen may be just what the college students are looking for.  For those who are having a tough time keeping up with long-winded professors they need to try the smartpen.  This unique device could save their college careers when old notes suddenly take on a meaningful and informative look.  

Now instead of having to ponder over some poorly organized notes and trying to make sense of them.  They will have their instructor’s actual speech readily available with the tap of their smartpen.  This audio file ties directly to the key word or phrase that they wrote down during the speech.  So now, review notes will be like getting their own personal instructions one more time. 

The Pulse Smartpen is a mind-blowing pen and a computer in one.  This pen records audio while you are writing and links them together.  Then you go back to your notes, just tap what you have written the pen plays the audio that was recorded when you were writing.  You can also upload the notes to your computer.  Once uploaded notes can be organized, searched and shared. 

When using its noise canceling and ink recognition system it works great.  The Pulse can be used to take written notes that are uploaded to the PC.  It can also be used to just record audio.  The best evolution for note taking is the ability to match written notes with the audio.  Simply put the pen into “Paper Replay” mode and tap on some text to hear what was being said as you scribbled.  The result is the next best thing to real time transcription.  It can be used to check what may be an unclear or hastily scribbled note.  You will be able to focus on commentary while the pen captures the content.  You will be able too create or copy a diagram then later have it explained via audio.

Livescribe is naturally focusing on marketing the smartpen to the college crowd.  However, the device has broad appeal to journalists, lawyers, doctors or anyone who tends to take notes in a meeting.  The smartpen may well be one of the most useful gadgets to come along in quite some time.   

Down the line, the company plans to rollout new applications to widen its usefulness.  These applications will broaden the functionality of the device.  Translation software would be a great next step for the smartpen.