It was the 19th century English playwright and politician Edward Bulwer-Lytton who coined the immortal phrase "The pen is mightier than the sword." In this day and age it might seem more appropriately stated as "The keyboard is mightier than the sword." However, the pen is getting a new lease of life with Penvision, a technology from Swedish company XMS.

XMS started life creating business solutions using the Internet in 1996. In 2001 it was approached by Anoto, a company that had developed an electronic pen. The Anoto pen uses a paper onto which is printed an pattern of barely visible dots. A camera in the pen reads these dots, allowing the pen to determine exactly where it is on a sheet of paper and provide data on the path it takes.

XMS's initial involvement with Anoto was in the development of standards for the creation of paper for use with the Anoto pen. This soon extended into a complete framework for capturing information from the pen and integrating it with business systems.

At the core of XMS Penvision is the XMS Digital Pen Platform (DPP). The XMS DPP is a Linux based server application that receives raw data from the digital pen via either a mobile device, such as a S60 smartphone, or a PC. The platform performs handwriting recognition and form interpretation to create digital files in text or XML format. These recognized file can be processed by a range of back end systems. In addition to handwriting recognition, the system can perform biometric recognition of signatures. Accurate biometric verification is possible because the Anoto system not only provides an image of the signature, but also information on pen speed and pressure; vital for differentiating between genuine and forged signatures.

The system includes a feature called splines which naturalizes the pen data. If raw pen data was used to create a image of handwriting it would appear jagged, as the pen moves from recognition point to recognition point. Splines smoothes these transitions to produce images that look like the original handwriting.

For mobile device applications the platform includes a Mobile Hub. This implements a proprietary protocol to ensure that the pen data is transmitted efficiently over GPRS or 3G networks.

PenPusher is the device client. It is available as a native Symbian application for S60, Series 80 and UIQ devices and will shortly include S60 3rd Edition and UIQ 3. In addition, a Java implementation is available and XMS is contemplating a version for Windows Mobile. PenPusher offers two variants. The standard version collects pen data, transfers it to the DPP and then acknowledges the data reception, while the Pro version can receive the recognized data back for display on the mobile device. Once the data is in Pen Pusher Pro the user can correct recognition or data errors as well as attach additional information to the document, such as photographs captured with the phone's camera or dictated audio.

Form for use in PenPusher are first defined in any word processor or document package, such as Microsoft Word or Quark Express. The form is then converted to a Adobe Acrobat document and prepared for use in PenPusher using a plug-in to Acrobat Professional. The plug-in allows areas of the form to be identified for recognition and the Anoto pattern added to the document. Recognition areas can be defined using a number of standard elements, such as tickboxes. Dictionary based lists can also be attached to recognition areas, such as "small", "medium", or "large" for a size field, this technique helps improves recognition because it limits the matching criteria. Simple workflow can also be defined for the form. Once the basic form content and functionality has been defined, a definition is exported from Acrobat and uploaded into the DPP where more complex recognition requirements and workflow can be added manually. Once that is done the form is ready for use.

An example of the use of PenPusher Pro is the parking offense system developed for Svea Inkasso. The system consists of specially printed parking tickets, Anoto pens and Nokia N70s. The parking ticket consist of a two part form, one normal paper form and a carbon copy, pre-packaged in a weatherproof plastic sleeve. When a parking warden wishes to write a fine they do so by completing the paper form. Each form has a unique set of Anoto dots on it so it can be individually identified. Once the form is completed the information on the form is transmitted back to Svea Inkasso's server. In addition, the warden can use the Nokia N70's camera to record details of the parking offense and attached these photographs to the electronic fine document, to record, for example, that no parking fee ticket was on display in the car's window.

"Using their old paper system parking fines took 5 days to get into the back office system," says Daniel Segui, business development manager and co-founder of XMS. "When someone challenged the fine promptly head office staff had no information about the fine. Worse, if they went to court the company had no supporting evidence on the fines validity, making it hard to defend. The new system means that the parking offense is in the back end system in about 2 minutes, with photographs supporting the fine. Since the system has been introduced the number of canceled fines has been halved." The system has also contributed to improving safety for the parking wardens. Some motorists were in the habit of taking a warden's fine book and tear up the ticket, in the hope of avoiding the fine. This practice is now pointless, as the fine will have already been recorded in the back end system.

While there are PDA based systems that provide similar automation of fines Daniel Segui says Svea Inkasso has found this smart paper based system to be cheaper. In addition, because it uses a familiar paper form, the level of training required is much less than for a fully device based solution.

A PenPusher system can be hosted by XMS or run in-house. Daniel Segui notes that small users typically use the hosted service. Larger customer tend to start with the hosted service while developing or trialing the technology and then move it in-house once the system is fully deployed. While XMS can host the DPP for customers it does not go to market directly. XMS works through partner companies who retail the solution. Currently XMS has fifteen partners in Sweden, UK, the Netherlands, Germany, Portugal, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Africa, UAE, USA and Mexico.

Perhaps the biggest question about Penvision is how feasible it is in the long term. With systems such as VoiceSignal VoiceMode close to offering on-device continuous voice dictation surely the idea of pen input is likely to be marginalized? "The pen has a huge range of advantages," says Daniel. "The pen remains a socially acceptable way to make notes while communication with others. Take a doctor in consultation with a patient. Dictating voice notes would be intrusive, while many patients would be offended if the doctor typed note directly into a PC. Using our technology the doctor can make note the way they always have, with a pen, but then have the note available immediately in their records system when they finish the consultation. I'm sure the pen, with our technology, has a lot of life left."

XMS are also working on applying Penvision to personal productivity applications. "One of the challenges for personal information management on mobile devices is entering information," says Daniel. "Lots of email gets read on mobile devices, but not that many get replies, particularly when a long response is needed. So for the future we are looking at applications for Penvision in replying to email and recording diary and task information."

More information on the Penvision Web site: www.penvision.se.