The inking process gives users the choice of converting the handwritten data to standard text through handwriting recognition. Users can also preserve the data in its ink format — keep ink as ink — and lose none of the data functionality. Hand–drawn or written ink need not be converted to a different format to be saved, sent, or otherwise manipulated by Medscribbler. Handwriting preserved as ink objects are fully supported as a defined and recognized "native data type" across Windows ® based applications and platforms. That is, digital ink can be passed from application to application as digital ink. For example, on a Tablet PC, users can respond to e–mail in Outlook by writing responses in ink by hand onto the screen. The response is sent and received as handwritten digital ink — without the necessity of converting the handwritten ink objects to text. This means that the Tablet PC is more than just a handwriting recognition tool. Notes taken in ink, sketches drawn in ink, annotations made in ink — none of these need to be converted to function as a data type in Medscribbler. A handwritten document has the same value and versatility as a document that has been keyed in on a keyboard. Maintaining ink as ink is one of the most exciting | | breakthroughs of the Tablet PC. The beauty of ink in Medscribbler is that it allows you to express yourself freely. It preserves the context and personality of communication. You‘re not restricted to any predefined structure: You don‘t need to stay within the lines. Inking technology serves as the foundation for many innovations in Medscribbler that will join the naturalness of handwriting and drawing with the power of the PC. Gounares spins out a few examples. "With today‘s Tablet PC technology, you can express yourself freely with ink in diagrams and drawings — you can capture anything you could do with a pen. And in the future, these technologies can be greatly expanded upon. The University of Waterloo in Canada, for example, is building on the Tablet PC foundation to create a mathematics recognizer. Long and complex equations can be written quickly in longhand and solved automatically," he says. "Over the course of the next few years, amazing applications will be developed for the Tablet PC that capitalize on the promise of ink as ink," says Gounares. "Our mantra while developing the inking technology was that it had to be better than paper. We wanted the naturalness of paper with the power of the PC. There are few barriers to expressing yourself in ink." |
