The digital clipboard and the next generation of writing tools
Long before computers became a staple for business and societal applications, the art of writing and keeping records was relegated to taking pencil or pen to paper.  Then computers gave us a whole new way to capture words or images by simplifying the creation, storage and manipulation of documents and data.  An obvious next step is to integrate the two media -- paper and computer.  Digital clipboard technology, created by IBM Research, does just that.

Taking pen to paper to computer
In essence, digital clipboard technology is a revolutionary new way to save handwritten notes and drawings.  Unlike its predecessors, such as the pen computer, the digital clipboard uses paper.  The user simply writes, draws or doodles on a regular pad or notebook of 8 ½" x 11" paper placed on a portable digital clipboard.  The clipboard captures the pen's movements and electronically records them for later transfer to a PC.  IBM's Ink Manager software application receives the recordings and creates electronic ink documents.  Ink Manager also allows the creator to edit, archive or search ink documents, and transcribe electronic ink into standard typed text annotations using handwriting recognition software (also developed by IBM Research).

Find out how it works