Jump to content

Pen computing

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Atama (talk | contribs) at 15:33, 7 May 2009 (→History: Added fact tag.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Pen computing refers to a computer user-interface computer using a pen (or stylus) and tablet, rather than devices such as a keyboard and a mouse.

Pen computing is also used to refer to the usage of mobile devices such as wireless tablet PCs, PDAs and GPS receivers. The term has been used to refer to the usage of any product allowing for mobile communication. An indication of such a device is a stylus, generally used to press upon a graphics tablet or touchscreen, as opposed to using a more traditional interface such as a keyboard, keypad, mouse or touchpad.

Historically, pen computing (defined as pointing device plus handwriting recognition) predates the use of a mouse and graphical display by at least two decades, starting with the Stylator [1] and RAND tablet[2] systems of the 1950s and early 1960s.

General techniques of pen computing

User interfaces for Pen computing can be implemented in several ways. Actual systems generally employ a combination of these techniques.

Pointing/Locator input

The tablet and stylus are used as pointing devices, such as to replace a mouse. Note that a mouse is a

  • relative pointing device -- you use the mouse to "push the cursor around" on a screen.

However a tablet is an

  • absolute pointing device -- where you put the stylus is exactly where the cursor goes.

There are a number of human factors considerations when actually substituting a stylus and tablet for a mouse. For example, it is much harder to target or tap the same exact position twice with a stylus, so "double-tap" operations with a stylus are harder to perform if the system is expecting "double-click" input from a mouse.

Note that a finger can be used as the stylus on a touch-sensitive tablet surface, such as with a touchscreen.

Handwriting recognition

The tablet and stylus can be used to replace both a mouse and a keyboard, by using the tablet and stylus in two modes:

  • Pointing mode: The stylus is used as a pointing device as above.
  • Handwriting recognition mode: The strokes made with the stylus are analyzed as a "electronic ink", by software which recognizes the shapes of the strokes or marks as handwritten characters. The characters are then input as text, as if from a keyboard.

Different systems switch between the modes (pointing vs. handwriting recognition) by different means, e.g.

  • by writing in separate areas of the tablet for pointing mode and for handwriting-recognition mode.
  • by pressing a special button on the side of the stylus to change modes.
  • by context, such as treating any marks not recognized as text as pointing input.
  • by recognizing a special gesture mark.

Direct manipulation

The stylus is used to touch, press, and drag on simulated objects directly. See the special Wiki article on Direct manipulation. The Wang Freestyle system [3] is one example. Freestyle worked entirely by direct manipulation, with the addition of electronic "ink" for adding handwritten notes.

Gesture recognition

This is the technique of recognizing certain special shapes not as handwriting input, but as an indicator of a special command.

For example, a "pig-tail" shape (used often as a proofreader's mark) would indicate a "delete" operation. Depending on the implementation, what is deleted might be the object or text where the mark was made, or the stylus can be used as a pointing device to select what it is that should be deleted.

Recent systems have used digitizers which can recognize more than one "stylus" (usually a finger) at a time, and make use of Multi-touch gestures.

The PenPoint OS was a special operating system which incorporated gesture recognition and handwriting input at all levels of the operating system. Prior systems which employed gesture recognition only did so within special applications, such as CAD/CAM applications [4] [5]or text processing.[6]

History

  • Before 1950
    • 1888: U.S. Patent granted to Elisha Gray on electrical stylus device for capturing handwriting.[7][8]
    • 1915: U.S. Patent on handwriting recognition user interface with a stylus.[9][10]
    • 1942: U.S. Patent on touchscreen for handwriting input.[11][12]
    • 1945: Vannevar Bush proposes the Memex, a data archiving device including handwriting input, in an essay As We May Think.[13]
  • 1950s
    • Tom Dimond demonstrates the Styalator electronic tablet with pen for computer input and handwriting recognition.[14]
  • Early 1960s
  • Late 1960s
    • Alan Kay of Xerox PARC proposed a notebook using pen input called Dynabook: however device is never constructed.
  • 1982
    • Pencept of Waltham, Massachusetts markets a general-purpose computer terminal using a tablet and handwriting recognition instead of a keyboard and mouse.[17]
    • Cadre System markets the Inforite point-of-sale terminal using handwriting recognition and a small electronic tablet and pen.[18]
  • 1985:
    • Pencept[19] and CIC[20] both offer PC computers for the consumer market using a tablet and handwriting recognition instead of a keyboard and mouse. Operating system is MS-DOS.
  • 1989
    • The first commercially available tablet-type portable computer was the GRiDPad[21] from GRiD Systems, released in September. Its operating system was based on MS-DOS.
    • Wang Laboratories introduces Freestyle. Freestyle was an application that would do a screen capture from an MS-DOS application, and let the user add voice and handwriting annotations. It was a sophisticated predecessor to later note-taking applications for systems like the Tablet PC.[22] The operating system was MS-DOS
  • 1991
    • The Momenta Pentop was released.[23]
    • GO Corp announced a dedicated operating system, called PenPoint OS, featuring control of the operating system desktop via handwritten gesture shapes.[24][25]
    • NCR released model 3125 pen computer running MS-DOS, Penpoint or Pen Windows.[26]
    • The Apple Newton entered development; although it ultimately became a PDA, its original concept (which called for a larger screen and greater sketching capabilities) resembled that of a tablet PC.
  • 1992
    • GO Corp shipped PenPoint and IBM announced IBM 2125 pen computer (the first IBM model named "ThinkPad") in April.[27]
    • Microsoft releases Windows for Pen Computing as a response to the PenPoint OS.
  • 1993
    • The IBM releases the ThinkPad, IBM's first commercialized portable tablet computer product available to the consumer market, as the IBM ThinkPad 750P and 360P[28]
    • AT&T introduced the EO Personal Communicator combining PenPoint with wireless communications.
  • 1999
  • 2000
  • 2001
    • Bill Gates of Microsoft demonstrates first public prototype of a Tablet PC (defined by Microsoft as a pen-enabled computer conforming to hardware specifications devised by Microsoft and running a licensed copy of the "Windows XP Tablet PC Edition" operating system)[30] at Comdex.
  • 2003
  • 2006
    • Windows Vista released for general availability. Vista included the functionality of the special Tablet PC edition of Windows XP.
  • 2008
    • In April 2008, as part of a larger federal court case, the gesture features of the Windows/Tablet PC operating system and hardware were found to infringe on a patent by GO Corp. concerning user interfaces for pen computer operating systems.[32]
    • HP releases the second MultiTouch capable tablet: the HP TouchSmart tx2z.[33]

See Also

References

  1. ^ Dimond, T.L. (1957-12-01), Devices for reading handwritten characters, Proceedings of Eastern Joint Computer Conference, pp. 232–237
  2. ^ Groner, G.F. (1966-08), Real-Time Recognition of Handprinted Text, Memorandum RM-5016-ARPA, RAND Corporation {{citation}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ WANG Freestyle demo, Wang Laboratories, 1989, retrieved 2008-09-22
  4. ^ Computerized Graphic Processing System: System User's Manual, Applicon Incorporated, 1973-09-01
  5. ^ Newman, W.M. (1973-09-01), The Ledeen Character Recognizer, Principles of Interactive Computer Graphics, McGraw-Hill, pp. 575–582
  6. ^ Coleman, Michael L. (1969), Text editing on a graphic display device using hand-drawn proofreader's symbols, from Pertinent Concepts in Computer Graphics: Proceedings of the 2nd University of Illinois Conference on Computer Graphics, University of Illinois Press
  7. ^ Gray (1888-07-31), Telautograph, United States Patent 386,815 {{citation}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  8. ^ Gray, Elisha (1888-07-31), Telautograph (PDF), United States Patent 386,815 (full image) {{citation}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  9. ^ Goldberg, H.E. (1915-12-28), Controller, United States Patent 1,117,184
  10. ^ Goldberg, H.E. (1915-12-28), Controller (PDF), United States Patent 1,117,184 (full image)
  11. ^ Moodey, H.C. (1942-12-27), Telautograph System, United States Patent 2,269,599
  12. ^ Moodey, H.C. (1942-12-27), Telautograph System (PDF), United States Patent 2,269,599 (full image)
  13. ^ Bush, Vannevar (1945-07-15), As We May Think, The Atlantic Monthly
  14. ^ Dimond, Tom (1957-12-01), Devices for reading handwritten characters, Proceedings of Eastern Joint Computer Conference, pp. 232–237, retrieved 2008-08-23
  15. ^ RAND Tablet, 1961-09-01
  16. ^ 50 Years of Looking Forward, RAND Corporation, 1998-09-01
  17. ^ Pencept Penpad (TM) 200 Product Literature, Pencept, Inc., 1982-08-15
  18. ^ Inforite Hand Character Recognition Terminal, Cadre Systems Limited, England, 1982-08-15
  19. ^ Users Manual for Penpad 320, Pencept, Inc., 1984-06-15
  20. ^ Handwriter (R) GrafText (TM) System Model GT-5000, Communication Intelligence Corporation, 1985-01-15
  21. ^ The BYTE Awards: GRiD System's GRiDPad, BYTE Magazine, Vol 15. No 1, 1990-01-12, p. 285
  22. ^ WANG Freestyle demo, Wang Laboratories, 1989, retrieved 2008-09-22
  23. ^ Lempesis, Bill (1990-05), What's New in Laptops and Pen Computing, Flat Panel Display News {{citation}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  24. ^ Agulnick, Todd (1994-09-13), Control of a computer through a position-sensed stylus, United States Patent 5,347,295
  25. ^ Agulnick, Todd (1994-09-13), Control of a computer through a position-sensed stylus (PDF), United States Patent 5,347,295 (full image)
  26. ^ NCR announces pen-based computer press release ([dead link‍] – Scholar search), retrieved 2007-04-20 {{citation}}: External link in |format= (help)
  27. ^ Penpoint OS shipping press release ([dead link‍] – Scholar search), retrieved 2007-04-20 {{citation}}: External link in |format= (help)
  28. ^ Lenovo - The history of ThinkPad
  29. ^ Trends at COMDEX Event 1999, retrieved 2008-08-11
  30. ^ Microsoft (2005), Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005 Hardware Requirements, www.microsoft.com, retrieved 2009-03-14
  31. ^ Fingerworks, Inc. (2003), iGesture Game Mode Guide, www.fingerworks.com, retrieved 2009-04030 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  32. ^ Mintz, Jessica (2008-04-04), Microsoft to Appeal $367M Patent Ruling, The Associated Press, retrieved 2008-09-04 {{citation}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  33. ^ HP TouchSmart tx2z, HP, retrieved 2008-11-28 {{citation}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

See also

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Pen_computing&oldid=288488273"