Apple has been awarded a patent by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for an iPen that can digitize whatever a user writes, no matter what surface the text is being written on including anything from a whiteboard to a sheet of paper, to even a wall.
Cupertino’s stylus makes use of accelerometers, wireless communication hardware and onboard storage to transfer hand-written notes and drawings onto the display of a digital device. The stylus would activate only when picked up, its nib is pressed to paper, withdrawn from a dock or manually turned on by the user.
As per the patent filings, the stylus would be able to track the movements in three dimensions while syncing with the computer. The stylus also has the ability to enter the data into a computing device even from a distance, such as when the user is at the other end of the room.
“The stylus tracks its different positions while a user is writing or drawing and then either stores the data to be uploaded later or transmits the data simultaneously to a computing device,” the patent notes.
“The computing device then displays the images and text drawn on the surface. The computing device may be located anywhere, as long as it is able to communicate with the stylus, and be able to display the written text or images.”
Similar “smart” pens like ‘the LiveScribe 3’ already exists. The LiveScribe 3 is capable of digitally capturing written notes as long as written on a special type of paper.
However, the feature which makes Apple stylus apart is that it could work on any surface with 3D motion sensor support.
It’s difficult to say at this point of time if we’ll see a stylus from Apple in 2015, as the company files tons of patents for gadgets and services every year that never gets turned into commercial reality.
