Pulse SmartPen at the Digital Union

The Pulse SmartPen, enhances handwritten note taking,
using a special pen and special paper.  Let’s say you want to take
notes during a Lecture.  The Pulse system allows you to not only write
notes but also record the lecturer’s speech at the same time.
Afterwards, you can tap the pen to a specific spot in your notes to
hear what was said during that portion of the lecture.  Check out our TV spot on WOSU as our director, Vicky Getis, shows the pen in action!

How it
works: the Smartpen sports a tiny infrared camera that points down at
the paper.  The special Livescribe dot paper is covered with tiny, uniquely positioned dots
that the pen’s camera sees while you write.  This is how the pen knows where your notes
are on the page, and how to correlate the recorded audio to that point
in time.

The SmartPen comes with a dock that connects to your
computer via USB.  This connection provides power to charge the pen and
is the link to uploading your notes onto the computer.  The SmartPen
software plays back a video of your notes as they were taken, along
with the audio that was recorded at the time.  You can also upload your
notes to the Livescribe online community to share with classmates,
colleagues, or the world.

Currently, the SmartPen works best
with Windows but a beta release of the Mac software (with slightly
reduced functionality) is now available.  We bought the 2GB version
which retails for around $200.  The dot paper is available for purchase in notebook
form, however you can print your own for free using the Windows version
of the software.

Check out a review of the SmartPen from our student staff member,
Jon Diehl.  Jon used the SmartPen last month and liked it so much that
he bought his own!  Ready to try it out for yourself?  Good news – the
Pulse SmartPen is now available for short term loan from the
Digital Union.  Email digitalunion@osu.edu to reserve.