Technology meets paper-based stationery

New and exciting opportunities are opening up within the world of paper-based stationery as technology meets tradition. Paper and pen are an intuitive way to communicate for many. So why do some reject this industry as a static or unexciting market. Just look at recent developments…developments in the form of digital paper.

Admitting personal involvement in this project, but wanting to use it as an example to prove a point, Papershow from Oxford is a hugely exciting development in the presentation and conferencing arena which really shows how exciting and innovative the market can be.

Using Anoto technology, the pen is used to write on paper which features a special almost invisible dot pattern. The pen streams the writing via Bluetooth to a USB key plugged into the laptop, projecting handwritten notes to the plasma or projection screen. This allows you both to have a digital flipchart with added functionality, and annotate a standard PowerPoint presentation during a meeting. It also means you can e-mail the final output direct from your PC following the meeting with all actions and additions captured during the meeting.

Have a look at www.survivingmeetings.com and I challenge people who are concerned about entering the stationery industry to criticise this as an innovation and not see the future potential applications for this product.  There are many other innnovation opportunities.