Use digital ink on real-world documents

If you have workers in the field who need to mark-up documents, such as a building's CAD drawings, an oil field's map or even make comments in field notebooks, you know that getting handwritten data into a document's file is time-consuming. Sometimes money is wasted and decisions are delayed while waiting for those files to be updated.

That's the problem Ken Schneider says his company has solved. He's the CEO of Adapx Corp. in Seattle, which ships the Capturx digital pen and software package. The product currently works with Microsoft Office for OneNote, AutoDesk applications and geographical information systems (GIS) tools from ESRI.

When you print a document from one of those apps, the Capturx plug-in applies an invisible layer of dots to the paper. When you use the company's digital pen to write on the document, the dots tell it exactly where you scribbled your notes. When you get back to the office, you pop the pen into its USB dock and Capturx automatically opens the file and adds your commentary precisely where you made it. The software can support handwritten notes from multiple users.

Schneider says the potential for Adapx's digital pen and ink go beyond workers in the field. Take forms, for example. Instead of giving people a ballpoint pen to fill out a form that will need to be keyed into a system later, have them complete a Capturx form with a digital pen. The money saved by not having to do data entry would likely pay for the product, which starts at $349 for the Office OneNote version. In Q4, Adapx plans to ship a version for Microsoft Office, making that scenario much more likely.

For those of us who prefer pens to keyboards, technology like this gives us hope. Now, if only it came in a Mont Blanc edition.