Livescribe Pulse Smartpen

The Livescribe Pulse Smartpen is a pen-sized computer that offers a new option for note-taking. The Smartpen, which is sold as a mainstream product, has enormous potential to help students with disabilities succeed in high school and college. Students are expected to perform many functions simultaneously in a classroom setting, including listening to lectures, identifying key information, and taking notes. This is challenging for all students, but is particularly so for students with learning disabilities.

The Smartpen captures both handwriting and audio recordings. To ease the burden of note-taking during a lecture or discussion, the Smartpen records the audio and digitizes the handwritten notes that a student takes on Livescribe’s on “Dot Paper.” It then synchronizes the handwriting with the audio. This paper is printed with micro-dots that facilitate a Dot Positioning System (DPS). The Smartpen has an infrared camera at its tip that takes 72 snapshots per second, giving it the ability to capture and recreate handwriting based on the dot patterns at the pen’s location. What this means for students is that when they open their notebooks to do homework or study, they simply tap the pen any place within their notes, and the Smartpen will replay the audio from the moment the note was written. Additionally, the notes and audio can be uploaded to the Internet so they can be saved, replayed, edited and shared with other students.

For Additional Information:
www.livescribe.com