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The Future PC as a Set of Pens?

Posted by michael on from the pocket-protectors-back-in-style dept.

Strudelkugel writes "The Wave Report covers a concept PC that NEC is working on, called P-ISM. (Maybe the name doesn't work, but it looks cool.) The design concept uses five different pens to make a computer. One pen is a CPU, another a camera, one creates a virtual keyboard, another projects the visual output and thus the display and another a communicator (a phone). All five pens can rest in a holding block which recharges the batteries and holds the mass storage. Each pen communicates wirelessly with the others."

17 of 327 comments (clear)

  1. Looks neat, but by lavalyn · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I can't see the keyboard taking off. I don't know about you, but I like feeling the keys putting up resistance and knowing that I pressed the keys correctly. Well, that's what they've said so far about the infrared projector keyboard, and I certainly don't see anybody using those.

    That projector pen would definitely be nice though, I hope they make it project far and wide (and sharp).

    --
    Doing the Right Thing should not be preempted by making a buck.
    1. Re:Looks neat, but by Bushcat · · Score: 5, Interesting
      You don't have to use the keyboard exclusively. It just has to be one of the options available to you at any given moment.

      Secondly, there are a lot of "keyboards" out there that don't have any tactile feedback yet sell well enough: think of touchscreen ticket machines, for example (ooh er, perhaps there aren't any in the US since there's precious little public transport).

      Also, consider decoupling the projector mechanism from the detector: the projected keyboard is simply a guide for the operator. The detector is a robust, solid-state item that can be made extremely rugged. The "keyboard" could be etched on steel for vandal-proof phones with internet access keyboards, for example. Or keypads in extreme temperature/chemical environments. They don't have to be one of NEC's never-see-the-light-of-day toys.

      Finally, the sensor doesn't have to be configured as a keyboard at all. It could be a mousepad area, where you don't need a mouse: any object would do.

    2. Re:Looks neat, but by HoldmyCauls · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I hate to respond to my own post, but I need to cover the lot of people who have been responding that "tactical" recognition and "motor memory" are the best indicators of mistakes.

      With a projected keyboard, wouldn't one notice in the same fashion that his or her finger moved to the wrong position? And yes, it is a big learning curve, but this sounds like a device *for* people who are willing to overcome such a curve in order to put it to use.

      In that case, the output device would be the only way to provide the stimulus (seeing that the wrong thing was typed) to denote the wrong action was made (finger moved to the 'e' position instead of the 'r') in order to cause the processing and memorizing apparati (whichever parts of the brain those are) to link the two.

      So the device works perfectly as what it's meant to be.

      --
      Emacs: for people who just never know when to :q!
    3. Re:Looks neat, but by BoneFlower · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Looking at the screen is fine when writing code, but when typing something off a sheet of paper for a school assignment or office job, looking at what you are typing is the way to do it. Looking at the screen, back to the original, back to the screen to make sure you are typing properly slows you down immensely.

      If what you are typing is all off the top of your head, then look at it, but if you are typing up something off of a hardcopy then you are wasting your time if you can't type without watching the screen.

  2. voice recognition by fgb · · Score: 5, Interesting

    If they develop good speech recognition then they wont need a keyboard pen, the pen would then just need to be a microphone.

    1. Re:voice recognition by yandros · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Your point is very good, but it's not the only serious problem with a primary speech-recog system. It turns out that speech systems are much more tiring to use for long periods of time than keyboards.

      So, basically, speech recognition systems are:

      * hard to do well (requires new tech, eats computing power)

      * hard to use in many environments (they both cause and are seriously hurt by noise polution)

      * harder on the majority of users (your speech apparatus gets tired faster than your hands, and the degradation makes the whole problem harder)

      There are some good, nifty uses of speech recognition systems, and you're sure to see them in the future (automated phone service systems based on speech recog are starting to get really interesting, for example). `Replacing the keyboard' for complicated tasks isn't likely to be one of them any time soon, in my opinion.

  3. The problem with that by Threni · · Score: 5, Interesting

    is that `virtual keyboards` are horrible. The idea just doesn't work. I have a friend who plays the piano and you should hear the BS that people with cheap, shitty keyboards come up with when they try and get him to play the piano on their horrible $200 midi keyboards.

    1. Re:The problem with that by Threni · · Score: 2, Interesting

      > feedback about whether or not we pressed the right key comes from what we see
      > not the tactile feedback anyway, so how would a virtual keyboard be a problem?

      I think we're talking about two different types of feedback. I look at the screen, not the keyboard, but obviously you can't really feel that you've hit the right key - you see it appear on the screen. But real keyboards provide a sort of cushion against the impact of hitting keys. I'm sure secretaries and other people who type all day every day would get a lot more RSI and related damaged if they were typing on their desks rather than a keyboard.

  4. What is the benefit of the CPU in a pen? by oneiros27 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I can see the need to put the other components into a container that can be easily moved and repositioned -- but the CPU?

    Unless they're planning on making a 9 slot base, so I can have the 4 I/O pens, and 5 CPU pens, I don't see a real benefit. And I'm guessing I'd see more benefit out of having the storage be more expandable than the CPU power. [I could always replace the CPU item, but having the storage segregated makes more sense to me, so I have my work documents on one, personal stuff on another, music on a third, etc.]

    --
    Build it, and they will come^Hplain.
    1. Re:What is the benefit of the CPU in a pen? by nutznboltz · · Score: 2, Interesting

      When you get down to this level of miniaturization design decisions can't be arbitrary. I'm convinced that if we had more information about the product a reason for a "CPU pen" would be clear, especially if the actual contents of the "CPU pen" were known.

    2. Re:What is the benefit of the CPU in a pen? by mog007 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I'm more concerned with upgrades. When you want to upgrade just one componant, do you just replace the CPU pen with the new one? How does it operate at the same frequency as the other componants? If all models operate at the same frequency then a LAN party, or computer lab of these things is a big impossibility.

      --
      Learn something new.
  5. Call me a traditionalist... by WegianWarrior · · Score: 4, Interesting

    ...or even a luddite, but: one creates a virtual keyboard?I happen to like the idea of having some sort of tactile feedback when I write. If I'm going to write so much on this sort of future PDA so much I need a keyboard to do it, I would much prefer either a keyboar like the Psion Series5 or a good system for transforming handwritting into input (hey, if they are going to add a camera anyway, why not put it to good use?)


    Sorry NEC, but 'hammering' my fingers into the desk isn't high on my list of things to do... which isn't the same as to say that it is a stupid idea for everyone.

    --
    Everything in the world is controlled by a small, evil group to which, unfortunately, no one you know belongs.
  6. Sour Grapes by Catbeller · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Damn. I cam up with the computer-in-the-pen idea a few months ago. Input by penstroke, display by an intelligent led projector in the top of the pen, above the hand, that could compensate for hand movement. I was going to use it in a SF story. If I had been smart as a yoot, I would have an EE and made the bloody thing. The prototype would probably have weighed ten pounds, which would have been amusing in itself.

    A pen-as-PC makes design sense, for utilitarian and human reasons. People can deal with a pen. We've used them for millenia.

    They also could be cell phones as well, with voice, video, and internet capabilities. Wireless, of course.

    I was seriously considering applying for a patent on the idea. Ya know, sometimes working for a living gets in the way of living. No time, no time.

    Photonic circuitry can someday make them cool and powerful. Should be a pretty thing to see.

    Ah, well. Run with the idea, guys! I want to have one.

  7. Why pens? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    By the time the technology is ripe to be able to develop these devices, will pens be still of any use? I suspect I wouldn't even need to carry a single one, let alone five of them.

  8. Handwriting Recognition by thebitboy · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Why not use handwriting recognition? Use the display pen to project a virtual page on whatever surface you're using and use the handwriting pen to write virtual ink. I would think it would be much more intuitive and require less space.

  9. I would rather prefer cards than pens by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Future computer as pile of credit-card-sized cards.

  10. Existing technology by vurg · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I believe this has already been done by some people in India. They call it the "Shankara" stones. History said that the evil Mola Ram tried to gain control of them.