Software Solutions For Digital Pen and Paper

Why do they still use paper?Notes from the field are an indispensable part of a
Field personnel need the right tools for both thecompany's intellectual property. They may
job and the job site, whether they are working indescribe the condition of a transformer on a
an underground tunnel or high up in a cherryparticular utility pole, or serve as a repository for
picker. Digital tools that provide many benefits inactions that a customer must take. For
an office environment, may have the oppositegovernment field personnel, such as first
effect in the field. To accommodate these tools,responders, field notes may constitute evidence
field personnel may have to make substantialthat must be preserved in the original state for
changes to their established work flows andpresentation at trial.
productivity. Workers are often reluctant to bringThough paper is most often preferred for taking
expensive electronic devices into dirty ornotes, digital notes are preferred by companies
hazardous environments. Tablets are heavy,because information is much easier to store,
expensive, and get in the way. They have limitedsearch and share in digital form. Users can locate
battery life and screens that are difficult to see innotes instantly from a computer desktop, rather
bright sun. And they require extra attention, whichthan thumbing through hard copy notebooks and
means that workers have less time for the jobfiles.
at hand. The small size of a PDA greatly limitsWith a digital pen and paper solution, notes can be
spatial perspective, and places its own substantialtaken on paper and stored digitally in a OneNote
cognitive load on users, resulting in dra-maticnotebook.
increases in help calls (ref.) When faced with suchAn engineer or inspector can take notes and
inadequate technological options, it is not surprisingmake sketches on site, and then send data back
that field personnel naturally revert to whatto a computer at the office in real time via the
theyknow best - pen and paper.docking station and a USB connection. Because no
Field workers choose paper and pen because theother hands have touched the data, the notes
tools are:can become a true record of observations in the
• Familiar and easy to usefield.
• Suitable for field conditionsIn addition, each page of the digital notebook
• Support opportunistic face to facecontains an exclusive geo-location writing field that
collaborationcan digitally link your notes to any GIS application
• Quick to deploy (no boot time)you specify. Because everything written and
• Don't failsketched with a digital pen becomes part of a
• Provide high-resolution images on a large ordigital notebook, the paper notebook can be
small scalethought of as an extension of the computer.
• Inexpensive, lightweight, portable, andContinue to work as normal, but with the power
predictableof the computer forgathering, storing, and sharing
However, despite all of the advantages of peninformation. You can convert your handwriting to
and paper, the written data must somehow bedigital form and retain the original paper document.
converted to digital form. And with standard penYou can organize your notes, share them with
and paper, that means manual data entry, whichothers over a network, and use the powerful
reduces the efficiency of the information systemsearch features built in to OneNote.
and greatly increases the risk of error.Usability Advantages
How can you get the best of both worlds?Two recent studies point to the reason why
Products are available uniquely suited to improvingdigital paper and pen have the advantage over
information management in field conditions. Alaptops and PDAs for data collection in the field.
mobile computing product treats paper as aOne study with radiologists compared forms
computing device. As field personnel data storedbased data entry using digital pen and paper, PDA,
in the pen is then uploaded to a computer througha hybrid PDA plus digitizer, and tablet computer
a portable docking station. On the computer,interfaces [Cole et al., 2006]. It was found that,
software processes pen strokes, so that each iscompared to PDAs, the use of digital pen and
registered to the location and content of anypaper led to an 8-fold decrease in the need for
digital document, such as a map, satellite photo, orhelp calls, as well as a 30% increase in
journal page. Essentially, any paper-based businessproductivity and significantly greater user
practice can be digitized using a digital pen,satisfaction.
digitally-imprinted paper, and software.In all categories, the digital pen scored equally to a
How does it work?tablet PC at 10 times less cost. The study
Documents are printed on ordinary paper usingshowed that even for users as sophisticated as
digital form software. During the process, theradiologists, existing computing devices were
software converts the paper to digital paper byunnecessarily complex and expensive. Digital paper
imprinting a pattern of tiny black dots, called anand pen provide a familiar usage paradigm that
Anoto pattern.has been shown to encourage rapid adoption by
As a field worker writes on the digital paper withfield personnel. This finding of minimal support for
a digital Pen, infrared light from the pen illuminatesdigital data collection is bound to have significant
the dot pattern, which is picked up by a tinyimplications when considering the total cost of
sensor.ownership for a proposed field force solution.
The pen decodes the dot pattern as the penCognitive Load
moves across the paper and stores the dataPopular computing technologies that promise
using a processor, memory, and a battery. Inincreased efficiency and productivity can actually
addition, the pens use a waterproof ink cartridgefail to support users with real tasks to perform.
for allweather operation.Another series of studies compared use of
The pattern is comprised of a tiny grid, with dotsordinary pen and paper, digital pen and paper, and
offset from the intersecting grid lines north, south,tablet user interfaces for simple mathematical
east, or west. Because the dots are printed in aproblem solving [Oviatt et al., 2006; Oviatt et al,
carbon black ink that reflects infrared light, the2007]. It was discovered that digital pen and
sensor in the pen records the dots, but not thepaper supported faster and more accurate
other colors printed on the page. The pen has aproblem solving than tablet computer interfaces.
field of view of 7 square millimeters. ThereforeThe more the interface resembled ordinary paper
with 1200 dots per inch, the pen can see 336and pen, the better the users performed.
dots horizontally and vertically, or about 113,000Essentially, because people possess a limited
dots at a time. Each dot can be in one of fouramount of cognitive resources, interfaces that
positions, so the pattern can encode a huge spaceprovide the least cognitive load leave more
of possible locations on a page.resources available to devote to the task.
With this unique encoding of dots, the pen canBecause field personnel already know how to use
read a location on a page within 0.2mm, andpen and paper, they can devote more of their
identify precisely which page it is. As the pencognitive resources to engaging in their primary
moves across the page, it stores the X-Ytask than in thinking about the interface.
locations of the pen tip. The data is then uploadedSummary
to a computer and the software uses the storedDigital pen and paper technology is ideal for
coordinates to reproduce the writing or sketchessupporting mobile and field users because they
in a new document or an existing file, such as aare more natural and intuitive to use. When
drawing or map.walking, riding or standing outside, a keyboard and
The software interprets handwritten data frommouse won't work. For users trying to see a
the field, and then integrates it with documents,detailed map or plan of terrain or a building, a PDA
images and drawings running on platforms youwon't suffice. For people who just need to get to
already use. It can extends a number of majorwork, a user interface and operating system get
software applications, such as Microsoft Officein the way. No one needs much training to use a
OneNote, ArcGIS, and AutoCAD.pen!