A German startup company has come up with a pen which knows when you make a spelling error.
When the hi-tech pen from Lernstift.com senses that you have made a mistake, it vibrates to let you know.
Billed as “the first pen that vibrates when you make a mistake” the concept could catch on with people who feel uncomfortable away from their computer spell checker. Now the company are hoping to take the pen to market.
The website adds: “It combines a time-tested writing utensil with state of the art technology and thereby gives writing by hand new relevance and appeal in the age of the iPad.
“The integrated electronics recognize mistakes as they are being made and give the writer a respective feedback by vibrating. Lernstift is a great way to learn how to write faster.”
The pen has two main modes – helping people to write legibly and correctly:
- In Calligraphy Mode the pen vibrates once, if a letter is written wrong or illegibly.
- In Orthography Mode the pen vibrates once for a misspelled word and twice to point out grammatical errors in a sentence.
Now Lernstift want to take the idea and make it a reality and is now trying to raise €10,000 to prepare a startup presentation in German and English to gain funding to take the idea to market.
Next month the company wants to raise up to €1.5m via crowdfunding and, depending on how that goes, will then decide whether to produce the pens independently or license the patent to an existing manufacturer.
What makes it work:
The pen has a mini computer at its heart which is basically a smartphone minus the screen and GSM module.
The computer board is connected to motion sensors and it also contains a Wi-Fi antenna and a small multi-color LED.
The pen’s body will be made of either thermoplastic polymer or aluminium.