DIGITAL PEN AND PAPER USING ANOTO TECHNOLOGY(MOBILE COMPUTING)

S.Sriharsha Varun singhalCSE- 3rd year CSE-3rd yearseetamraj_sreelu@yahoo.com varun_thenew@yahoo.com

TEEGALA KRISHNA REDDY ENGINEERING COLLEGE

ABSTRACT:

Mobile Computing is a generic term describing your ability to use technology 'untethered', that is not physically connected, or in remote or mobile (non static) environments. The term is evolved in modern usage such that it requires that the mobile computing activity be connected wirelessly to and through the internet or to and through a private network. This connection ties the mobile device to centrally located information and/or application software through the use of battery powered, portable, and wireless computing and communication devices. This includes devices like laptops with wireless LAN or wireless WAN technology, smart mobile phones, wearable computers and Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) with Bluetooth or IRDA interfaces.

The Anoto Technology is a combination of an ingenious pattern, advanced image processing, Bluetooth wireless communication and an information infrastructure. These features let you use pen and paper together with all the possibilities of information technology.

Anoto technology enables digital capture, transfer and processing of handwritten text and drawings—all with pen and paper. This offers businesses a better way to manage their handwritten forms.

About Anoto

Anoto Group AB is the pioneering leader of digital pen & paper technology. Anoto technology optimizes paper-based processes by rapidly and reliably converting handwritten information from business forms into digital documents.

Anoto works with a global partner network that delivers innovative, user-friendly solutions for industries such as healthcare, banking & finance, transport & logistics, and education.

THE MAGIC WAND

This is no ordinary pen. It is part of the Anoto® digital pen/paper system that captures handwriting in digital form. The paper is special too - it has a pattern of tiny dots, which are too small to see in normal use - the paper just looks slightly off-white. The pen has a camera which reads the dot pattern and records exactly where the pen is on the page - 70 times a second, to the nearest 0.3 mm

What this means is that you have a digital record of what was written that can be analysed, for example to score a questionnaire or cognitive test automatically. The test is printed onto Anoto paper, the user fills it in exactly as normal - the digital pen writes just like a normal pen. Data are transferred to a PC via a docking cradle (or Bluetooth etc) and the resulting score is worked out automatically, without manual transcription. The pen can time the writing too, so you don't need a stopwatch to score a speeded test

There are lots of psychological tests still done using pen and paper, and many of these are quite difficult to automate using a conventional computer. Handheld PDAs with pen input can be used in some cases, but the screens are small, and many of these tests are set up on an A4 sheet. The Anoto system is a good choice for such tests.

There are lots of psychological tests still done using pen and paper, and many of these are quite difficult to automate using a conventional computer. Handheld PDAs with pen input can be used in some cases, but the screens are small, and many of these tests are set up on an A4 sheet. The Anoto system is a good choice for such tests.

Examples are letter cancellation, trail making, shape drawing, and various types of maze tests. Our first test using the system was a drawing task in which the person drew 1 cm squares as quickly as possible. We were looking at the effects of drugs on the size of the drawing as well as speed. This test had the practical advantage of not requiring anything to be printed on the Anoto sheet.

The results were presented at the British Association for psychopharmacology in 2003- the first published report of the use of this system for automating a psychological test.

Consumers can store their written scribbles, or send graphical e-mails and also electronically order products with just pen and paper. The time-consuming task of re-entering notes made on note-pads, into digital environment is past history. Consumers are no longer restricted to text-based SMS or e-mail, but can communicate hand written notes to anyone holding a mobile phone, PDA or PC. Companies can also use the technology to create customized and very powerful systems for data collection, document/goods tracking, journal keeping, etc.

The Anoto technology consists of a piece of paper, the Anoto pen and a web server. On the paper, a proprietary pattern has been printed, in which any position can be expressed as X-Y coordinates commands or services. The Anoto pen includes a digital camera, an advanced image processing unit and a Bluetooth radio transceiver. There is a camera and an infrared LED close to the point of the pen. When writing with an Anoto pen on a paper covered with the pattern, digital snapshots of the grid are taken and each snapshot contains information, which is enough to make an accurate calculation of the position. This information can be transmitted to a mobile phone, PC or PDA via Bluetooth wireless technology.

THE PAPER:Handwritten information no longer locked in a formAll types of ordinary paper can take advantage of Anoto technology. To make the paper digitally legible a patent-protected dot pattern from Anoto is added before printout.

The pattern:Almost invisible to the naked eye, the Anoto pattern consists of numerous intelligent small black dots that can be read by a digital pen. The pattern indicates the exact positions of the digital pen. What’s more, the pattern on each paper has a unique identity so that each page can be kept separate from another

THE PENFrom ink to digital data: quick and easyA digital pen looks and feels like using its normal ballpoint counterparts. However, it contains an integrated digital camera, an advanced image microprocessor and a mobile communications device for wireless connection. When using a digital pen you capture, store and then securely send the handwriting. Here’s how digital pens convert and transfer ink to digital data.

What happens when you’re writing:When writing digital snapshots of the pattern on the paper are automatically taken (in fact, more than 50 pictures per second). Every snapshot contains enough data to determine the exact position of the pen and what it writes or draws, including the time each pen stroke was made as well as which particular paper form was written on. All this data is then retained in the pen’s memory as a series of coordinates. The pen can store up to 50 full A4/Letter size pages of handwritten data.

Bluetooth Transceiver

The Bluetooth wireless technology is a de facto standard that enables all things that are now connected by cables to be connected wirelessly.

BatteryA rechargeable battery enables a full day of use.

MemoryThe pen contains enough memory to locally store several pages of writing.

Ink Cartridge and Force Sensor The pen holds an ordinary ink cartridge - all that is written is visible to the eye just like a normal pen. A force-sensing resistor measures the stylus tip force.

ProcessorA dedicated image processor calculates the positions in the full pattern space in real time.

CameraThe pattern is illuminated by infrared light and a digital camera, i.e. CMOS sensor, acquires images of the pattern at 100 frames per second. The ink from the pen is not visible to the camera. In this way the pattern is not destroyed by writing on it.

The user paper The pattern appears as a faint grey shade on the paper and enables seamless integration with the digital domain of Anoto and further.

The full pattern Every 2x2 millimeter of the pattern gives the exact location, down to 1/30 of a millimeter, in the full pattern that has the size of 73,000,000,000,000 A4 pages - equivalent to half the size of the USA.

Transfer data from pen:Send data for digital processingThe digital pen user transfers data after it has been temporarily stored in the pen, either:

Wirelessly: by ticking a box on the paper, interpreted by the pen as a “send” command, the pen will use Bluetooth to instantly send data via a mobile phone

Via a USB port: pens connect to any PC

Sent data is in proprietary Anoto PGC format and can either be handled locally or routed to the application server associated with that specific paper form for further processing.

Digitizing handwritten information:The application receiving the PGC data extracts all information using an Application

Programming Interface (API). The APIs are available both for PC and server environments. The pen data includes all information about the pen strokes written on the page, including:

The location (coordinates for each pen camera picture taken by the pen) Exact time of when they were written Who wrote them The identity of the paper form and of the specific pages

Data may be exported in any preferred format to suit the recipient system. Typically, data may be exported as a picture (for example, in .GIF format) but most often it needs to be translated into letters and digits by character recognition software. This requires, for example, an .XML file as an input. Finally, data can be integrated into the enterprise's back-end system for further processing.

APPLICATIONS

E-commerce - Service providers can design their own functionality into paper products and advertisements. The function, for example ordering a product, is transmitted to the service provider together with the unique identity of the pen.

Digital Storage - Everything written or sketched with the pen can be transferred to your computer or other digital device upon request – tick the "Store" box.

Communication- Every sketch or note can be faxed, e-mailed or sent by SMS – write the address and tick the designated box.

CASE STUDIES:

(1) Digital pen and paper solution keeps traffic running smoothly

“The main advantage is that it makes management of the whole cycle much easier. The solution saves 5/6 of the time compared to entering data manually."

In a medium-sized Italian city 3.5 million fines are issued every year for traffic transgressions including speeding, incorrect parking and Highway Code offences. All these fines need to be processed in order to be implemented. Staff at the police station needs to scan the tickets and enter the fines into the computer system, so that an official letter can be sent out to the transgressor. The letter must be sent within a set time of 10-60 days, without the official letter, the fine is invalid. This means that speeding up the process is a top priority for police in Italy. 38 city police departments have now implemented a solution based on Anoto digital pen and paper technology to speed up the process and save resources needed for manual data entry work.

Benefits: - Processing time speeded up- Less staff needed for data entry- More fines collected- Easy for staff to use- Saves 5/6 of the time compared to entering data manually

(2) Digital pen and paper make medicals on the move more efficient

"Basically what was a 7 day turn around for the return of medical forms is now a 24 hour turn around"

Medicals Direct provides medical screenings on behalf of insurance companies, processing around 500,000 examination forms a year for people who have applied for life insurance policies. Medicals Direct wanted to migrate its 450 nurses onto a modern data capture technology. The nurses all work in the field, visiting patients at home to carry out checks and rarely going into the office. One option that Medicals Direct looked at was Tablet PCs but the high capital costs and training and support overheads were a concern to management. But then Medicals Direct found out about Anoto technology – the nurses found it easy to use, more comfortable for patients when nurses are not hiding behind a screen. And it was also found to be significantly less expensive. The system cost Medicals Direct in the region of £400,000 over two years to implement, including digital pen, licenses, BlackBerry smartphones and the airtime cost for the BlackBerry smartphones. The Tablet PC solution. Originally considered by Medicals Direct would have cost in the region of £2 million.

(3) Digital pen and paper solution: tailor-made for the textile business

A key task in the textile industry is the transfer of designs from paper to fabric. Traditionally, this has been achieved by putting a paper pattern onto a large flat tablet called a digitalizer, which then instructs the CAD machine behind it to print the shape onto the fabric. Algotex, Italian company specializing in wide format textile plotters was looking for a more portable device for plotting textile patterns and transferring them to fabric. The result was a tailor-made digital pen and paper application involving a special kind of transparent paper. The dot pattern (which the digital pen can read) was printed on a transparent paper. This paper could then be used in place of the cumbersome digitalizer – a much more convenient option since it can simply be rolled up a tube and carried around.”

Benefits:- Cost effective and robust- Easy to carry around- Same paper can be used many times over

Conclusion: In the end we can conclude by saying that this is the future of our world and of computing devices. This is a way in which we can propagate our information in the quickest and easiest of ways. As the world is getting smaller so are the devices.