Slashdot Mirror
Digital Pen Vibrates To Indicate Bad Spelling, Grammar and Penmanship
Zothecula writes "Use digital technology long enough and you start to become dependent upon it for such mundane tasks as spell checking. That means when you pick up a garden variety ballpoint pen you're back in dictionary and 'I before E except after C' territory. The creators of the Lernstiftdigital pen hope to bring handwriting into the 21st century by having the pen vibrate to indicate when the writer makes spelling and grammatical errors or exhibits poor penmanship."
Wait, are they trying to discourage bad spelling and grammar, or encourage it?
It seems your penmanship is slipping. I am sure that vibrating will only improve it.
Yes, a vibrating pen will surely help me with my poor penmanship.
So when your handwriting is bad... it makes it worse?
That is almost as stupid as suspending a student for skipping school.
For someone with atrocious spelling and grammar like me, this would have been a godsend. Some part of me thinks this may be a genuine psychological problem since I've always had trouble with both, including handwriting. I know it in my head, but by the time it comes out on paper, it's almost complete gibberish. This would have helped so much!
If computers were people, I'd be a misanthrope.
Ok, lets say this somehow actually works... you spell something wrong, while writing with a PEN... now what?
So you kan si de korrect speling
...you're dependent on the magic vibrating pen.
Yeah, that's a big improvement.
in my pocket, can't wait for that
Nup. No way. Not with the name 'Lernstift'.
If your handwriting is bad, your pen will vibrate, because trying to write with a pen that's vibrating is sure to help handwriting?
So that explains the subtle grammatical and spelling errors your mom kept yelling, such as: "your doin grate dont stop dont stop keap go-ing, o ya i luv it more then n e thing"
'We are trying to prove ourselves wrong as quickly as possible, because only in that way can we find progress.' RPF
If the pen will punish me for bad penmanship it will just bring back bad memories of being taught (much against my will) how to write in cursive back in 3rd grade. Hell, I enjoyed memorizing multiplication tables but dreaded cursive writing tests. I still remember my teacher giving me extra pages of just the dreaded lower-cased letter "r".
If this pen takes a similar approach I would just take the batteries out and go back to typing messages.
Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
Electric shock?
Much better.
Since when were affordable motion sensors anywhere near accurate enough to track the movements of the end of a pen well enough to determine what was written? And if they are, why the hell are you using them for such a dumb idea? If the sensors really are that accurate, that means they're accurate enough to do complete finger tracking in three dimensions. Can you say VR interface glove? That's exactly what we need to go with an Oculus Rift. Sensors as accurate as these would have to be to do what they're claiming built into gloves, together with a Rift, would enable the world's best 3D modeling interface. Sculpt your model with your hands. This idea has been around since VR was first conceived. Are we finally getting there?
There is a prototype, but the first generation is expected mid 2013. What is the prototype really able to do?
Next up on slashdot :
"New grammar pen promotes bad grammar in underage schoolgirls"
For the most part I know how to spell and write grammatically correct sentences.
When spell check recently tried to correct pommes frites into pommel trite I came within a millimeter of turning it off for good on every one of my devices.
Set the damn thing to understand the writing patterns of a person and they can use it for a key. Wire it up if it's not you, barbs snap out and into your hand locking it to you and an amazingly powerful internal stun gun mechanism lights you up like a pinball machine. Also, if they can do that then they can set one up for espionage. Give one to your wife and see what she writes with it, when she uses it.
I see acres of applications for something like this and helping school kiddies being just one.
Take the Red Pill.
Penmanship? who can really defend good penmanship, some of the most educated people have the worst legible writing imaginable. How neat you write has nothing to do with the quality of the information. As for bad grammar and spelling I'm so pro for this pen it's insane. Growing up having a learning disability which makes it hard to spell and really hard to use grammar correctly, I can totally see the need for this. ( Of course on a side note any one who needs the grammar to read doesn't really know how to read in the first place, I can read books with out even needing to see or read a single grammar note )
Writing on paper with a pen? Why not a quill and parchment or papyrus? Or clay tablets and a stylus?
I have a smart phone with apps that I can speak to. Writing with a pen and paper? How droll. And how very 20th century.
A shock would be better. Negative reinforcement. Think doggie training collar.
Not only will it indicate poor penmanship, but it will exacerbate it as well! I guess it couldn't make my handwriting any worse.
Maybe we could all chip in and buy one if these for the slashdot editors?
Stephen Fry takes exception to that.
well, it's gonna be vibrating the whole time.
Eat up martin is what you get when you write beat up martin
What useing this to make ups and store pads work a lot better then they do now.
#34
Look, for some of us it's going to be vibrating all the damn time. Might as well use a vibrating dildo with a pen strapped to it. Much cheaper.
Cn u txt w it?
I'd pretty quickly throw it across the classroom at the wall. Kids are moving away from cursive handwriting and only printing. How long before we don't write much of anything ever? I don't know about you, but lost the ability to use a quill and ink well.
jsut athnoer menagiensls ltitle psrhae for you to dcoede. Why do we wtsae our tmie dnoig tihs?
but its /facedesk if the paperclip starts second guessing what I'm doing.
You seem to regard science as some kind of dodge... or hustle.
I have a pen which indicates when it is being used to write with poor penmanship or to write spelling and grammatical errors. It indicates this by not vibrating, flashing, or making any noise whatsoever. They're cheap as dirt, too -- less than 10 cents a pen. And I've never had one fail to indicate a problem, nor indicate a problem where none exists.
-Did you write with your ass?
-Well, actually...
Yeah right. First it was the "body massager", now it's the "vibrating pen". Nice try.
But if they are really serious, they are a bit behind the times: how often do people write with a pen anymore? The only time I use a pen (sharpie, actually) is to mark where to cut the 2x4.
i'm skeptical about the spelling and grammar checker, but as for the pressure...
pens have already been developed which don't require noticeable pressure in the first place.
there are even some for children.
aren't they messy? not if you use cartridges. also, blue fountain pen ink is usually easily washable, unless you specifically get a variety which isn't.
won't the dumb kid lose his $20 fountain pen? well, i guess this might be a problem (although somehow we managed before), but i'm sure this accelerometer/vibrator pen would cost a lot more anyway.
the ergonomics are another advantage. making the pen easier to hold can only improve handwriting.
"They were pure niggers." – Noam Chomsky
Then the perpetrator of bad penmanship cannot commit any more of that horrible, horrible crime!
Side note: I nominate that for "most stupid idea of the week".
Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
Based on the amount of time it would be vibrating, I'd say it would need a pretty big battery.
I don't write anymore, I just type.
Be seeing you...
My pen will carve the incorrectly spelled word into the back of your hand. Submitting a patent now, and will sue Rowling ASAP.
I hope is has a better dictionary selection and retention than Word. Being constantly reprimanded by squiggly red lines that I the software thinks that I should use -ize on words that should be -ise is enough to make me gouge out my eyes with a vibrating pen.
Hey dude, making the pen vibrate will not help my poor penmanship!
Is that bad grammar in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?
Imagine a Beowulf cluster of these... no .. no wait.. i got this ... In soviet Russia digital pen ... der.. ... ah fudge ...
mightieRrrRrrRrrRrrr
Vibrating Pen .... Hmm.....
Now everyone will think I'm writing with a dildo
A pen that shocks you if you disrespect the Dear Leader
I just wanna know how a pen can read my handwriting when no one else can!
In Soviet Russia, dot slashes YOU!
What they should do is design a pen that delivers an electrical shock to the user every time a word is misspelled.
Disclaimer: On the other hand, I am kind of a psycho...
Would occur instantly if I would use that pen.
That is why I got a job with a keyboard.
KERNEL PANIC -SIGFAULT AT ADDRESS #51A54D07
Not that your bad penmanship is the cause of bad spelling, but if the pen can't discern what letters you're writing, it probably presumes you're just spelling the word wrong. It's more of a limitation on the device than a bug or a feature, but they've chosen to market it as the latter.
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
.... that targets my thumb to alert me of not aiming squarely for the nail.
how about zapping the user with minute jolts and increase as number of spelling errers increese....aaaawww..
There is a Dumb Blond Joke waiting to be told .... Vibrating pens and a "dumb" woman. Some of this biz pens are rather large for pens... but could be a small...
new Digital Pen electrocutes the holder until he/she gets the spelling/grammar right !
To encourage good penmanship and spelling I found a tablet PC is invaluable. Let me explain:
I spent the vast majority of primary school in pencil because teachers wouldn't "graduate me" to use pen due to my "messy writing". After high school and university my writing degraded further because 12 years of typing practically everything instead of writing. This brought me to the point where my writing was so bad I could probably have passed it off as MD scrawl.
Then I started using a Windows Tablet PC. I found it so useful it became my preferred note taking system - it became essential for me in meetings and while doing a masters degree. The downside was the text recognition. The old recognition system in Windows Tablet PC Edition (before Windows 7 made handwriting recognition adaptive and more accurate) was so pedantic that my chicken scrawl had to change if I wanted to search my own writing. Consequently I made a concerted effort and now have a very legible style for the first time in my life.