14 DAY TRIAL // Most people have probably heard of smart pens by now, but it's one thing to record handwriting and another to be able to record and understand the kind of broad strokes that are used when writing something on a blackboard or whiteboard.
We have no doubt that pens will eventually have the ability to do both, but for now all smart pens are capable of just handwriting recognition.
That means they can store your notes, and even transfer them to a computer through various means, but not do much more than that. Besides snapping “pictures” of small figures and graphs anyway.
Thus, the Equil Smartmarker is quite a fortuitous invention, as it was made specifically so that whiteboard notes may be recorded.
The Equil Smartmarker
The Smartmarker has a sensor attached to a magnetic strip which can be stuck to one side of the writing surface (it has an adhesive rear).
The sensor is located inside a tape and tracks the sleeve which is meant to hold a normal dry erase pen. So you could say that the Smartmarker is not so much a marker as it is an add-on to the ones you find for sale in every shop.
The Smartmarker can sense an area with a width of 16 feet / 4.9 meters and a height of 5 feet / 1.5 meters. Means you can happily whittle away the hours while figuring out a complex equation even on a whiteboard that stretches across an entire auditorium wall.
All the while, the sleeve will communicate the location of the pen to the sensor via ultrasonic positioning.
When you are done, you can then use the integrated Bluetooth technology to relay the information to the Internet, a mobile device or a PC. Android, iOS, Mac OS and Windows operating systems are supported. The Equil Note app lets you save, edit and share notes through cloud services.
Availability and pricing
The Smartmarker should be up for sale soon for an unknown price. Just don't expect it to last forever. Continuous use will drain the battery of the sleeve and the sensor in around 8 hours, and recharging it takes 2 hours. You need to place it back in the case for that and connect said case to a USB port.
