The art of writing

A device would allow people to write, draw with ink on a normal pad of paper and get the information recorded in a computer. Krishna Nathan at IBM's Thomas J Watson Research Center, New York, USA, has developed the device. The system consists of a panel on which a paper pad is kept. It works in conjunction with a special pen that consists of a battery, coil and ink. When the user writes on the paper, the sensors fitted in the panel detect the magnetic field produced by the pen. It decodes the movements of the pen and converts the information in digital form. The panel can store a maximum of 50 pages of information ( New Scientist , Vol 156, No 2106).