report on smart note taker

CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
Smart note taker (or digital pen)--- portable handwriting capture device using handwriting recognition technology to capture your hand writing notes, drawings, sketches anytime, anywhere then upload, file, email your handwriting notes, drawings, sketches once connected to computer.
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Note taking is recognized as a critical activity in learning contexts. Notes are essential for recalling what has been heard or seen, and can promote reflection afterwards. Different solutions have been proposed to support note taking,
but most of the existing tools are focusing on note taking in the context of traditional classroom education. This task aims at designing support for practice-based education, with focus on teacher education. The task will build on a previous project to understand the needs of students and the usage of digital writing systems for supporting note taking.
The main goal of the task is the design of a digital writing system supporting the pedagogical needs of practice-based teacher education.

for both the drawings Since, JAVA Applet is suitable and strings, all these applications can be put together by developing a single JAVA program. The JAVA code that we will develop will also be installed on the pen so that the processor inside the pen will type and draw the desired shape or text on the display panel.



1.1History
People typically take notes as a convenient way to create a written reminder of key issues, points, events, and reminders and to list "To-Do" items in their work or personal life. Note taking is highly personal and each person has his or her own style of note taking. Thus, although the notes taken are typically meant for local and personal use, the notes taker may share the notes with others. For example, a person may make notes and lists his/her TO-DO's but then decides to send the TO-DO list to another person. In this case, the TO-DO's list is used to allocate tasks to another person. Hence, although personal notes are made they are then shared. Another example of personal notes being shared are meeting minutes with various action items allocated to other people thus the notes are personal but also are made to cover teams, groups of people or other individuals charged with carrying out the action items. Often the note taking is done with the assistance or help of small handbooks, pocket books or by using applications available in electronic devices such as Tablet PCs, PDAs, Smart Phones and other similar devices. Other known prior art note taking applications are available, for example, from Microsoft Corporation and 3M Corporation, which allow a user to "stick" a note on a document displayed on a computer screen. The known prior art note taking applications may offer or suggest to the user to embed some application data such as a document and/or link, however the prior art lacks interaction with the note taking applications and note taking application interactions with other applications. Some note taking applications simplify note taking through the use of a stylus or pen in which human handwriting recognition is carried out to transfer what a person doodles or writes on a screen or tablet using natural handwriting-to-text characters that are recognized by software. The notes typically denote a set of things related to a particular event or action that needs be carried out and are generally related to a set of actions that has happened or to actions that are to be executed in the near future. The currently known and available note taking applications do not simplify or provide a means on how such actions can be carried out. Further, the known note taking tools or applications do not help in writing the note in any simple manner even though the necessary information for the note may be accessible to the device. The notes once taken down are not easily accessible to the user based on the actions and events that are occurring. In known note taking applications, notes can be made available by predefined scheduled reminders in an ad hoc manner, for example, in a time or date sequenced order. The notes cannot however be organized and made available in accordance with specific actions and events that occur as recorded in the contents of the taken notes.
It would be desirable therefore to provide a note taking application that overcomes the disadvantages and shortcomings of currently known note taking applications and devices.
It would also be desirable to provide an active note application that allows access to application data which can be used to embed into the notes, enable invocation of local applications, allow access to the notes on the occurrence of specific external events or actions, and enable embedding of the data automatically into the notes in response to actions performed.
















CHAPTER 2
2. Overview of SNT
2.1 Motivation
Note taking in education is perceived as a major component in the learning Process. Students mainly use notes to capture information during lectures and research for usage in assessments. But taking notes is useful for learning also. Vygotsky said:
“Thought is not merely expressed in words, it comes into existence
through them”
A customized, light weight digital note taking system can increase the efficiency of situated note taking and sharing of these notes. This can contribute to enhanced note taking and sharing experiences and therefore stimulate to more note taking and sharing among the students.
fig:2.1.Normal pen

2.2 Thesis goal
A digital note taking system has the possibility to promote more note taking and sharing among students, because it can provide enhanced handling and sharing of notes through digital means. The students are facing a different note taking and sharing environment than students in traditional lecture based educations. The note taking and sharing environment are more mobile and varied while the students are in practice. Facilitating these students with a digital note taking and sharing system that is customized to their needs, can enhance the experience of taking and sharing notes, and therefore promote more note taking and sharing of those notes among the students.
The main goal of this thesis is therefore to design a customized digital pen and paper based note taking and sharing system for the practice based teacher education, PPE.The main customization focus will be on the handling of notes and sharingof them. There will be an additional feature of the product which will monitor the notes, which were taken before, on the application program used in the computer. This application program can be a word document or an image file. Then, the sensed figures that were drawn onto the air will be recognized and by the help of the software program we will write, the desired character will be printed in the word document. If the application program is a paint related program, then the most similar shape will be chosen by the program and then will be printed on the screen.











CHAPTER 3
3.Working of SNT
3.1Components:
1.Motion Sensor
2. Memory Chip
3. Voice recorder
4. Power button

Fig:3.1 smart pen
3.2Working:
The main principal of smart note taker depends on the movement of pen which is sensed by motion sensor .The motion sensor works when the pen moves in specific direction ,with respect to ground. This product will be simple but powerful. The product will be able to sense 3D shapes and motions that user tries to draw.The sensed information will be processed and transferred to the memory chip and then will be monitored on the display device. The drawn shape then can be broadcasted to the network or sent to a mobile device. There will be an additional feature of the product that will monitor the notes, which were taken before, on the application program used in the computer. This application program can be a word document or an image file. Then, the sensed that were drawn into the air will be recognized and with the help of the software program software we will write the desired character will be printed in the word document. If the application program is a paint related program, then the most similar shape will be chosen by the program and then will be printed on screen. The use of motion sensing to perform sophisticated command control and data input into a portable device is disclosed. A motion sensor is embedded or fixedly attached to a portable device to measure movement, motion or tilt of the device in one-, two- or three-dimensions when the portable device is used to air-write or make gestures. The use of full motion information such as rate of change of motion or tilt angle to perform functions and commands is also disclosed. In addition, the use of air-writing to input search criteria and filter schemes for portable devices to manage, search, and sort through various data, files, and information is disclosed.



Fig :3.2.pen with pc connectivity cable


3.3Construction:
Note Taker Digital Pen
1, Capture natural handwritings and drawings while being away from computer.
2, Save captured handwritten notes into built-in flash memory.
3, Upload captured handwritten notes to computer via USB connection.
4, Act as a digital ink pen with hovering and mouse functionality to directly write into Windows Vista and Office 2007.
5, No installation is required to activate digital ink in Vista and Office 2007.
6, No need for special paper.
7, Standard off-the-shelf ink refill and batteries.
Since, JAVA applet is suitable for both the drawings and strings, all these applications can be put [together by developing a single JAVA applet program. The java code that we will develop will also be installed on the pen so that the processor in the pen will be able to draw and type the desired text on the display panel.
Applet:
Applet is a function of java which for example, is a kind of container(file) which contains a set of programs made in java. It is widely used in making various applications based on java. It is one of the best features of java.
The various strings, drawings etc Will be made using a class file and this file will not be a single file. It will be a set of files linked together in a single applet program.
Database:
The system installed in the pen will consist of a database which will help the processor to recognize various words made visually in the air.
Each word written in the air will resemble to a word in the database and the word present in the database will be printed. This will remain the basic principle of the working of a smart note taker.
3.4Special features of SNT
1.Unlike other pen recorders with 4 or 5 pushbuttons on pen body, it has only one concealed button on pen body, which makes it looks more like a normal pen.

2.Unlike other pen recorders with annoying flashing lights while recording, we could set flash lights off during recording.

So you can write it as a normal ballpoint pen without annoying flashing lights.
3. The built-in Mic is good quality and sensitive, it has the best sound recording quality (very clear recording) and could clearly record sound 10 meters away



fig 3.4 uploading of data

4. Elegant looking, super thin,very handy, largest diameter is only 13.9mm,

5. ONE-TOUCH-RECORD
It goes straight into voice record mode after power on;it will start recording with a single push.

(other similar pens on market will first go to music play mode)

Active Voice Memo System
Built-in voice/sound memo capture system for annotating notebooks.
Voice Memo Links.
Create and record standard sound files ( mp3 & wav) .
AppleScript examples for moving voice memo files to iTunes/iPod .



Technical features:
1.USB2.0, mass storage: up to 2GB
2.Built-in Li-battery, support over 12hours recording after fully charged.

3. Included USB Cable Connector easily Docks to any USB jack
Without LCD Display
4. Compatible with windows 98/2000/ME/XP and Vista.
Price and cost
The Smart pen comes in two versions: the 1GB model with 100 hours of audio storage and16000 pages of digital notes, priced at $149, the 2GB model doubles the storage and cost $199. It will be available in March and the Apple version will ship in September.
Sharing Notes
Notebooks that are used for meetings generally contain notes that are taken during the meetings and notes that are taken offline. Both kinds of notes exist uniquely in the author’s notebook. However, we observed the frequent necessity to share and exchange notes between several people. With traditional notebooks, this requires to copy or extract pages from one notebook and insert them in another. These workarounds were used by three (25%) of the interviewed persons in order to share notes with others. In addition to photocopies, digital photos and written duplicates of notes, two people used to share their whole notebook. Depending on the relevance of the notes for the person, the according notebook was chosen. If the notes were important for them, they would let others write in their notebook or vice versa. However, this approach still restricts the notes to a single notebook and moreover affects the notebook owner’s privacy. Another way of sharing notes is to rewrite them as reported in.
Top New Features in version 1.9:
• Enhanced Voice Memos include automatic bidirectional linking between recorded audio and text entries, for quick review
• Spring-loaded tabs and drawer views for conveniently moving and dragging information to other pages
• New Highlight & Summarize features for creating personal search and index reports (dynamic hyperlinks)
• New support for reorganizing by dragging multiple outline entries at the same level
• New Preferences for setting behavior of Return key while in various editing modes
• New multimedia AppleScript examples for using NoteTaker with iSight and iPod
• Built-in support for VoiceOver, the spoken interface for Mac OS X Universal Access
• Print and customize notebook covers
• Toolbar command button for adding a new page
• Paste as HTML option supports richer information display when used with Excel tables and Word content
• New global formatting behavior including control of spacing between outlines on a page (Preferences panel)
• New UI button behavior for toggling attribute column displays
The 1GB model is now $129.95. The 2GB model is $169.95. And, the Pro-Pack which includes the 2GB Pulse model, 5 notebooks (instead of just 1 sample notebook), and a bunch of ink refills now sells for $209.95.

Fig:3.5 Separate component of pen


CHAPTER 4
CATEGORIES
3 different types of digital writing technologies:
1. Anoto: Optical digital pen and augmented paper
2. Pegasus: Ultrasonic digital pen
3. ACECAD: Simple digital pen and an electromagnetic pad
4.1Anoto technology
The digital writing system from Anoto is based on augmented paper, dots pattern printed on normal paper, as seen in figure 4.1(a), and an ink pen with a digital camera/optical sensor and built inn flash memory, as seen in figure 4.1(b). Together it records the pen’s movement over the augmented paper surface. The dots pattern functions as coordinates code and action code.
When transferred to a computer, an application can process and interpret the recorded dots pattern and provide an exact image of the handwritten notes and execute any action chosen on the paper.

(a) Anoto dots pattern (b) Anoto digital pen technology

Fig 4.1: Anoto digital writing technology Anoto

Anoto is behind the pen and paper technology, but only provides the pattern license and a software kit for users to develop their own digital writing solutions, including paper and software. The commercial digital pen and paper are sold by licensed partners of Anoto. Logitech is one of Anoto’s digital pen system partners.
(a) Logitech (b) Nokia
(c) Maxell


(d) HP

Fig 4.2: Anoto compatible digital pens


4.2Welcome to the World of 2nd Generation Digital Pens.

Pegasus Technologies, a leading provider of innovative digital pen technologies and solutions, invites you to experience the 2nd generation digital pen. Pegasus is the solution of choice for some of the world's foremost digital pen manufacturers. The Company's pioneering technology, unrivaled efficiency and unique product offering give global OEMs the tools they need to design and manufacture quality digital pens and complementary applications.

fig:4.3.Uploading of data


4.3 Handwriting recognition and conversion

All the systems mentioned above capture handwritten notes and provide an exact digital copy for use on the computer. Even though it is an easier way to transfer paper notes into computer, the usage is still limited to view, store and edit the notes as an image. Handwriting recognition and conversion programs take it a step further and provide users with automated transcribing into digital text. MyScript Notes is such an application and are compatible with all the above mentioned digital writing systems. MyScript Notes MyScriptNotes is developed by Vision Objects [36]. This application converts handwritten notes to typed text in the computer. In the new version,MyScript Notes 2.0, the handwriting recognition is improved, providing users with the opportunity to add new words to the dictionary for better recognition and conversion rate. Shape recognition has also been included, though it only handles the most basic shape types. The language database has also been expanded to include 14 languages, most of the western language and Japanese and simplified Chinese. All the Nordic country language is represented but Norwegian. Vision Objects also provides a development version called MyScript Builder, the latest version 4.1 does include Norwegian in its language database. This probably means that Norwegian will be included in the next official version release of MyScript Notes. MyScript Notes was included as Logitech io2 digital writing software bundle when the system was bought for the student experiment in autumn 2005. But it now seems like the MyScript Notes no longer is offered as part of the Logitech package, but as a stand alone application.

























CHAPTER 5
Economical issue

Expert Y was concerned about the economical aspect. She wondered if the digital paper (or notebooks) is expensive and if it was possible to print on site, or even design a paper form on the spot and print it. The paper is more expensive than normal paper, but compared to the digital afforandances of the system, then it is a better alternative to PDAs and Tablet PCs. The design of paper requires a licensed pattern purchased from Anoto, so designing on the spot might be a bit too complex to be worth it. Printing on the spot however is possible, but the printing of the paper file takes longer than printing of normal documents, so it might pose as an issue to print in huge amounts. But if the special paper is printed at the practice school it will make the system cheaper to deploy be the students and maybe it will be the system more popular.
When the Note-Taker was initially deployed in quiet classrooms, the PowerPod pan/tilt servo motors were found to be somewhat noisy, causing one professor to ask whether someone was “drilling”. To compensate for this, the software was modified to limit the pan and tilt speeds, thus lowering the loudness and the pitch of the sound emitted by the servos to an acceptable level. The PowerPod’s movements are also somewhat imprecise, allowing the camera to tilt slightly downward as it pans. We expect that a software solution can be found to compensate for this tilt problem. Given that the PowerPod is currently the only off-the-shelf electronic pan/tilt mechanism in its low price range, we find these issues to be acceptable for now. However, given sufficient resources we would consider building our own pan/tilt mechanism. With regard to the Tablet PC, we found that the Gateway Tablet PC that we used had pen-input issues that did not seem to be evident in the Lenvo X-series Tablet PCs. It is interesting to note that the Gateway uses Finepoint digitization, as opposed to the very popular Wacom technology. In large part, this Gateway model was purchased over other Tablet PC models due to its larger screen size – a feature that neither David nor M felt was necessary after using it, and comparing it to a smaller 12.1-inch Tablet PC screen. In both cases, these students needed to be very close to the screen, so differences in screen size seemed less important than reliable pen input for this application. The Note-Taker’s camera is best positioned in the center of the front row of the classroom. However, this was not seen by our users as an unreasonable constraint, given that they typically sit there anyway. The addition of multiple control methods for the camera would be beneficial. The prototype provided only one means for aiming the camera – repeatedly tapping of directional buttons (left, right, up, down). Future prototypes should provide multiple ways to aim the camera, allowing users to choose the method that best suits the situation. In addition to these mechanical and software enhancements, we have a number of additional features planned for the Note-Taker. We will add image warping to compensate for the linear perspective seen when the board is viewed obliquely, as can be seen in Figure 5. We will also experiment with computer vision techniques to automatically follow the professor, while allowing the student to take manual control of the camera as necessary. In doing so, we hope to decrease the time expended in controlling the pan/tilt mechanism. To assist during times when the professor occludes information on the board while the student is still copying it, the Note-Taker could keep a history of frames, and allow the student to “rewind” with simple pen gestures. We also plan to use computer vision techniques to help the Note-Taker decide when to provide a live video feed, and when to show an older frame, with less occlusion. Beyond enhancements to the Note-Taker prototype, we wish to test it on a larger population of students who are legally blind, and we are actively dialoguing with the disability resource centers at our university, and at local community colleges. We would like to construct several additional prototypes and provide them to these schools. Students would then be able to check out a Note-Taker for periods of time, to test it out and provide us with feedback. Since there is a clear learning curve for the Note-Taker, we would need to train these students (or write tutorial software) and we would need to allow for at least week-long use periods. We are also exploring ways to further facilitate note-taking. This approach would equip the Note-Taker prototype to automatically track the professor, find the writing on the board, and convert it to digital ink. (This approach is similar to converting bitmaps to vectorized images – it does not involve optical character recognition). This approach might not be feasible with a VGA resolution camcorder, requiring instead a second, higher-resolution camera. Given the benefits of student-generated notes, we do not intend to replace the note-taking activity entirely. However, this could allow students who are legally blind to pay more attention to the lecture, while capturing and annotating board and projected content in real-time. Regarding the design constraints of the Note-Taker, we cannot overemphasize the importance of developing assistive technologies that are portable, and that require no significant set-up. While some interesting things can be done with solutions that require prior set-up in a classroom, we feel that most of these approaches will ultimately prove to be impractical because different students have different needs. Furthermore, portable solutions like the Note-Taker allow\ students who are legally blind to access virtually any presentation, including guest lectures, conference presentations, and even special events, or live performances. We also feel that, by allowing students who are legally blind to fully control the assistive technologies upon which they rely, we can provide them with a level of independence that they would not otherwise enjoy.

Overall, we are pleased that both of the case studies yielded encouraging results. Even in its early development, the prototype Note-Taker became an integral component of the first author’s classroom workflow, and he feels that it is an essential tool for the completion of his degrees in computer science and mathematics. M felt that the Note-Taker had significant potential, given refinements. Based on these two case studies, we feel that the Note-Taker provides a better solution than existing technologies to the problems that these students who are legally blind encounter in their classrooms.



























CHAPTER 6
Applications of SNT
1. The Smart NoteTaker provides taking fast and easy notes to people who are busy one's self with something.
2. The Smart Note Taker is good and helpful for blinds that think an write freely.
3. Another place, Smart Note Taker can play an important role, is where two people talks on the phone. The subscribers are apart from each other while their talk, and they may want to use figures or texts to understand themselves better.
4. It's also useful especially for instructors in presentations. The instructors may not want to present the lecture in front of the board. The drawn figure can be processed and directly sent to the server computer in the room. The server computer then can broadcast the drawn shape through network to all of the computers which are present in the room. By this way, the lectures are aimed to be more efficient and fun.
5. Voice can also be recorded in mp3 or wav formats.














CHAPTER 7
Conclusion and future work
7.1 Conclusion
Hence we can conclude that our SNT has many advantages over normal pen , since the smart note taker is a device that can store visual recordings and thus can be used widely. Legally blind students(people with partial blindness) find it difficult to take notes at the fast pace that it is being dictated.So SNT can play a great role to help blind students and this technologic and fast life.

7.2 future work
Writing on Air is a superb anthology. It successfully integrates science and imagination, using narrative, memory, and metaphor to convey complex environmental and biospheric concepts."
since smart note taker have several advantages and features still there is a need of some improvement .China is doing the work to add some additional features for the comforts of users.china is doing to add a camera and memory locator which will directly show the status of free memory.
















References
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[3] http://www.seminarsonly.com
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[5] http://www.pdfdatabase.com
[6] http://www.seminars4u.com