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Home > Mobile Solutions > Digital Pen

The Digital Pen

  
The digital pen technology
The process
The Digital Pen
Handling
Operational areas
    Sectors with high usage potential
    Usage areas
Advantages of the digital pen solution
    General advantages
    Advantages of the digital pen solution versus:
        1. PDA and Handhelds
        2. Tablets, Notepads with Touch-Screen
        3. Scanning pens
        4. Scanning solutions
The pattern principle

The digital pen technology
The digital pen functionality used in SkaiForms is achieved through the application of Anoto technology. Behind this digital paper-based process stands a technology developed by the Swedish company Anoto. All solutions applying the digital pen require access to the licensed Anoto process. The following illustrations describe further details about the Anoto technology and the technical workflow of the mobile solution SkaiForms.
 

The process
The graphic registration and the transfer of hand-written texts and drawn sketches are made possible by means of Anoto technology. For this purpose a digital pen and normal paper are required. While printed, the paper gets watermarked with a unique pattern which appears like a light grey surface on the page and which is invisible as such to the naked eye. The digital pen is equipped with a normal ball pen refill, an infrared camera with memory, a Bluetooth interface and other components. By means of its integrated camera, the digital pen registers the movements applied on the printed paper. (Pen Illustration)

Detailed description of the pattern principle

  • The transmission of graphic information can be effected either wirelessly through a Bluetooth-compatible cell phone or statically through a docking station connected to your computer by means of a USB cable.


  • Data transmission to a computer or to a server system is effected after access rights verification (of pen and form). For a professional data digitalisation, the system uses Intelligent Character Recognition (ICR). When required, forms can be manually re-edited in the web interface.


  • A standardised interface for integrating SkaiForms in the current software infrastructure is an essential component of the solution.


  • The workflow is supported by a protected web access to the registered information. Customers and staff can promptly visualise and edit forms online.
 


The Digital Pen
Illustration example of a digital pen
 

Handling
  1. Creating the form


  1. Printing the form


  1. Filling out the form


  1. Data transmission by means of Bluetooth or USB
    
  1. Editing the transferred data with workflow components in the web interface



 

Operational areas
Basically a high usage potential of the digital pen exists wherever standardised forms and paper documents are used. The advantages of SkaiForms become particularly crucial when the information registered in a form must immediately be integrated into the workflow and made available for further processing. Filling out forms, the user is totally independent from the constraints of environment and infrastructure.

    Sectors with high usage potential:
  • Health care
  • Technical services
  • Public institutions
  • Banks and insurances
  • Trade and sales
  • Logistics

    Usage areas:
  • Time sheets
  • Bills of delivery, bills of lading, accompanying and delivery documents
  • Safety and data specification sheets
  • Order and contract forms, lead tracking
  • Check lists, maintenance and service protocols
  • Patient interview, emergency protocols, patient data
 

Advantages of the digital pen solution
The advantages of the digital pen solution can be clearly deduced from the following division into general properties (soft facts) and advantages. For this purpose we juxtaposed existing mobile devices to our digital pen solution.


General advantages
  • Usual mode of operation through usage of pen and paper
  • Elimination of media disruption
  • Improvement of mobility, using Bluetooth for data transfer
  • Productivity increase and cost minimisation
  • Short-term data availability in digital format
  • Fast data integration into the current IT infrastructure
  • Fast data flow till issuing of invoice
  • Low costs for user training, administration and maintenance due to simple handling.

Advantages of the digital pen solution versus:
  1. PDA and Handhelds
    • Both digital and original data are generated simultaneously
    • The digital pen is easier to operate (ergonomic)
    • Low costs for acquisition, operating and administration

  2. Tablets, Notepads with Touch-Screen
    • Simple technical procedure
    • The pen is small, light and robust
    • Low acquisition, operating and administration costs

  3. Scanning pens
    • More security due to Pen-ID and Paper-ID
    • Storage of a larger data volume due to the pattern technology
    • The digital pen is easier to operate

  4. Scanning solutions
    • Lower cost due to simple hardware and administration
    • Prompt availability of registered data
    • Low error rate due to direct data transfer
 

The pattern principle
The pen's operating principle is based on a technology developed by Anoto company, using a specially printed paper. This latter has a hardly visible pattern in which each rectangular line intersection is marked with dots around it (on the right, on the left, above and below).
Pattern 6x6 of these dots are combined in one field. This results in the following probability ratio: 4 (left, right, above, below) to the power of 36 (number of dots) = 4722366482869645213696 possible combinations for each field. The sum of all possible combinations of different fields represents the so-called pattern.
Each of these 436 possibilities defines a unique position. A page consists of several fields like the one just described and a book consists of many of these pages. This is quite important since the usage of the Anoto functionality requires the licensing of a specific segment of the pattern possibilities.
The licensed pattern segments can be used in two different ways, either once (Unique pattern) or repeatedly (Copied pattern). A unique pattern is when different patterns are used for the same forms and a copied pattern is when the same pattern is used for the same forms. The advantage of a unique pattern is that each form can be identified through its pattern by the server system. However, it entails high costs because of the license fees.