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New technology brings handwriting to email
By Jana Seshadri
A Sunnyvale company has found an innovative way to combine old-world tradition with the speed and efficiency of modern technology. Two of the most ancient forms of communication are writing and drawing and now people can send handwritten or hand-drawn messages at Internet speed via email. According to Leonid Kitainik, general manager of Pen & Internet, people can now see their own writing and drawing on the Internet, with the help of their product--riteMail.
"We are bringing writing to the Internet," Kitainik said.
Developed by Parascript, a division of Pen & Internet, riteMail uses electronic ink and communications technologies to send messages instantaneously. According to Kitainik, the current beta version of riteMail software was released in the middle of last year for desktop and laptop computers and for handheld pocket PCs and will be available to the public in 2002.
The easiest way to communicate is by handwritten notes and drawings, and riteMail enables people to handwrite their messages and send them to any corner of the world instantaneously via email. By using a mouse, stylus or touchpad, messages can be written in any language. Kitainik said users from more than 50 countries are currently testing the product in 27 languages.
Kitainik said people use riteMail to communicate to families, friends and business associates from their personal computers and mobile devices and as a way of expressing themselves through digital art. The drawing capabilities enable children and adults to create greeting cards and pictures and send them to their loved ones.
Distance-learning specialists, teachers and educators can use riteMail for writing out mathematical equations or chemical formulae for students to solve online and corrections can be made online as well. According to Kitainik, this instantaneous exchange of information reduces time delay drastically.
A popular feature is to decorate a basic greeting card and email it to a loved one. By using riteShape technology, edges and curves can be easily smoothed out into freehand geometric shapes to have a professional-looking drawing or sketch. During the 2001 holiday season, an individual could click on a bare Christmas tree on the screen, decorate it with the help of a pull-down color chart, write a message beside it and send it via email. When a user clicks on the object, it usually opens to fill up the window. Different images are available throughout the year to decorate and send as greeting cards.
Pen & Internet has also entered into a partnership with the International Child Art Foundation and they have jointly launched an interactive art room, that enables youngsters to draw, doodle or scribble online and send their creations via email with the help of riteMail electronic ink email technology.
Children can visit the foundation (www.icaf.org) or riteMail (www.ritemail.net) websites to find out more information about how to draw pictures on an online sketchpad, and then send them via email or preserve them electronically.
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Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
