Theories and principles

hand, new peripheral computer input

« Zero paper, i.e., paperless management, remains an utopian objective. The more we compute, the more paper is being sent to printers.
Moreover, when capturing data, paper remains often the most efficient way, particularly in a complex environment such as hospitals and other health care settings. A Gartner Group study revealed that 85% of today's available information was “born” on paper.
But the use of paper has serious limitations: it is static, difficult to share widely and susceptible to loss or damage.
In contrast, information technology offers almost limitless opportunities for sharing, storage, data management and/or data mining. Its benefits in the care process are indisputable.
Scribb, developed by HOPI, combines the best of two worlds:

• the ease of natural handwriting usage
• and the unmatched IT power of duplication, calculation and distribution of information technologies.

Technology

Anoto Group AB is the inventor of the optical pen and dot pattern technology. HOPI has licensed the technology for use primarily in the health care environment. It works with any kind of paper and any kind of postscript- compatible printer. A dot-patterned layer that can be read, “understood”, by the digital pen is printed simultaneously in the foreground of the form to be used.

The paper

The dot pattern - almost invisible to naked eye - results in a light gray overlay. It is composed of a myriad of dots placed according to algorithmic specifications and resulting in a unique combination. This feature allows the camera inserted in the pen to be positioned along two orthogonal axis. As a consequence, handwritten material can be located, interpreted and transferred into the information system.

The digital pen

The digital pen is composed of:

• A typical ink roller ball
• A camera that permits the pen to memorize the handwritten material
• A clock with time/date functions
• A proprietary URL address, showing which pen has been in use
• A battery for autonomy
• A transfer module either through a USB-connected docking station or via Bluetooth to a cell phone.

PRACTICAL USE

The combination of digital pen and dot-patterned paper confers to a humdrum sheet of paper a high degree of visual intelligence enabling it to transfer directly data into the information system.

Therefore it is possible to:

• Design specific applications such as designated writing zones, check boxes, etc.
• Translate handwritten messages into computable language that can be inserted into databases (word processors, spreadsheets, etc.)
• Transforms freehand drawings into gif or jpeg images
• Remember iterative actions and captures on the paper