 | This article contains content that is written like an advertisement .(July 2019) |
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| Type | Public (Nasdaq Stockholm: ANOT) |
|---|---|
| Industry | SaaS |
| Predecessor | C Technologies |
| Headquarters | Stockholm , |
| Revenue | 173 MSEK [1] |
| 8.9 MSEK | |
Number of employees | ca. 40 |
| Website | http://www.anoto.com |
Anoto Group AB (formerly C Technologies) is a Swedish cloud-based software provider (SaaS).
Anoto's main product is the Anoto Digital Pen, a combination of ordinary ink pen and a digital camera that digitally records everything written with the pen. It works by recognizing a non-repeating dot pattern printed on the paper. The non-repeating nature of the pattern means that the pen is able to determine which page is being written on, and where on the page the pen is.
The dot pattern can be printed on a professional offset printing press or on a laser printer. Dots are printed in black; other colors of ink are invisible to the pen's IR sensor. On a color laser printer, CMY can be mixed to produce a near-black color that is human-readable. For offset printing, Anoto developed an ink color called "Anoto substitute black", a non-carbon-based black ink that is invisible in the IR region, allowing the user to include human-readable black marks with the dot pattern without interference.
While some of Anoto's licensees have targeted the consumer sector, with, for example, learning toys, most licensees sell their products to providers who put together customized vertical market systems. Anoto also sells a software development kit (SDK), numerous software applications, the Anoto Forms Solution (AFS). In addition, Anoto sells an ASIC design for the image processing component of the pen; most pen licensees use the same basic design of optical assembly and pen internals. Anoto has approximately 350 partners, primarily in Europe, the United States, and Japan.
Optical scan voting systems are based on Anoto technology.
Models include:
Anoto also has a few other products:
Anoto Forms includes all components required to set up and use digital pen and paper in order to capture, transfer, and incorporate handwritten information from paper forms into any back-end system. Anoto penDocuments Pro allows users to create electronic copies of handwritten documents. Anoto penPresenter is a personal digital whiteboard. By projecting a blank PowerPoint slide, a digital whiteboard is created.
Cognitive Artificial Intelligence is a cloud based AI program designed for offline education use. A digital pen aggregates and converts written analogue data on paper to digital data, and combined with a diagnostics assessment platform, enables an AI algorithm to recommend an individualized study plans.
Anoto's dot pattern, when used with aDNA, allows for the unique and unobtrusive marking of physical objects. This then enables easy identification of individual objects using ubiquitous mobile devices such as phones and tablets. aDNA is opening up new possibilities for product innovation, marketing insights, and supply-chain control.
Anoto used to develop and sell the C-Pen, a one-line text scanner.
Anoto holds more than 300 international patents on their technology and some 300 additional patent applications.
In 2004, Anoto prevailed in a patent infringement lawsuit filed by Oral Sekendur regarding Anoto's dot-pattern technology. [3] [4] The Sekendur patent was held invalid. [5]
In 2019, Anoto secured summary judgement against City Soft Limited and one of its directors for infringing on Anoto’s intellectual property. [6]
A barcode or bar code is a method of representing data in a visual, machine-readable form. Initially, barcodes represented data by varying the widths, spacings and sizes of parallel lines. These barcodes, now commonly referred to as linear or one-dimensional (1D), can be scanned by special optical scanners, called barcode readers, of which there are several types.
Halftone is the reprographic technique that simulates continuous-tone imagery through the use of dots, varying either in size or in spacing, thus generating a gradient-like effect. "Halftone" can also be used to refer specifically to the image that is produced by this process.
A pen is a common writing instrument that applies ink to a surface, usually paper, for writing or drawing. Early pens such as reed pens, quill pens, dip pens and ruling pens held a small amount of ink on a nib or in a small void or cavity that had to be periodically recharged by dipping the tip of the pen into an inkwell. Today, such pens find only a small number of specialized uses, such as in illustration and calligraphy. Reed pens, quill pens and dip pens, which were used for writing, have been replaced by ballpoint pens, rollerball pens, fountain pens and felt or ceramic tip pens. Ruling pens, which were used for technical drawing and cartography, have been replaced by technical pens such as the Rapidograph. All of these modern pens contain internal ink reservoirs, such that they do not need to be dipped in ink while writing.
A graphics tablet is a computer input device that enables a user to hand-draw images, animations and graphics, with a special pen-like stylus, similar to the way a person draws images with a pencil and paper. These tablets may also be used to capture data or handwritten signatures. It can also be used to trace an image from a piece of paper that is taped or otherwise secured to the tablet surface. Capturing data in this way, by tracing or entering the corners of linear polylines or shapes, is called digitizing.
An optical mouse is a computer mouse which uses a miniature camera and digital image processing to detect movement relative to a surface. Variations of the optical mouse have largely replaced the older mechanical mouse and its need for frequent cleaning.
Optical mark recognition (OMR) collects data from people by identifying markings on a paper. OMR enables the hourly processing of hundreds or even thousands of documents. For instance, students may remember completing quizzes or surveys that required them to use a pencil to fill in bubbles on paper. A teacher or teacher's aide would fill out the form, then feed the cards into a system that grades or collects data from them.
A whiteboard is a glossy, usually white surface for making non-permanent markings. Whiteboards are analogous to blackboards, but with a smoother surface allowing for rapid marking and erasing of markings on their surface. The popularity of whiteboards increased rapidly in the mid-1990s and they have become a fixture in many offices, meeting rooms, school classrooms, public events and other work environments.
A marker pen, fine liner, marking pen, felt-tip pen, felt pen, flowmarker, sign pen, vivid, flomaster, texta, sketch pen, koki or simply marker is a pen which has its own ink source and a tip made of porous, pressed fibers such as felt. A marker pen consists of a container and a core of an absorbent material that holds the ink. The upper part of the marker contains the nib that was made in earlier times of a hard felt material, and a cap to prevent the marker from drying out.
Security printing is the field of the printing industry that deals with the printing of items such as banknotes, cheques, passports, tamper-evident labels, security tapes, product authentication, stock certificates, postage stamps and identity cards. The main goal of security printing is to prevent forgery, tampering, or counterfeiting. More recently many of the techniques used to protect these high-value documents have become more available to commercial printers, whether they are using the more traditional offset and flexographic presses or the newer digital platforms. Businesses are protecting their lesser-value documents such as transcripts, coupons and prescription pads by incorporating some of the features listed below to ensure that they cannot be forged or that alteration of the data cannot occur undetected.
A currency detector or currency validator is a device that determines whether notes or coins are genuine or counterfeit. These devices are used in a wide range of automated machines, such as retail kiosks, supermarket self checkout machines, arcade gaming machines, payphones, launderette washing machines, car park ticket machines, automatic fare collection machines, public transport ticket machines, and vending machines.
Digital paper, also known as interactive paper, is patterned paper used in conjunction with a digital pen to create handwritten digital documents. The printed dot pattern uniquely identifies the position coordinates on the paper. The digital pen uses this pattern to store handwriting and upload it to a computer.
An interactive whiteboard (IWB), also known as interactive board or smart board, is a large interactive display board in the form factor of a whiteboard. It can either be a standalone touchscreen computer used independently to perform tasks and operations, or a connectable apparatus used as a touchpad to control computers from a projector. They are used in a variety of settings, including classrooms at all levels of education, in corporate board rooms and work groups, in training rooms for professional sports coaching, in broadcasting studios, and others.
Kodak EasyShare was a sub-brand of Eastman Kodak Company products identifying a consumer photography system of digital cameras, snapshot thermal printers, snapshot thermal printer docks, all-in-one inkjet printers, accessories, camera docks, software, and online print services. The brand was introduced in 2001, and discontinued in 2012, when Kodak stopped manufacturing and selling all digital cameras and photo frames.
The Fly Pentop Computer and FLY Fusion Pentop Computer are personal electronics products manufactured by LeapFrog Enterprises Inc. They are called a "pentop" computer by its manufacturer, because they consist of a pen with a computer inside.
An optical scan voting system is an electronic voting system and uses an optical scanner to read marked paper ballots and tally the results.
Pen computing refers to any computer user-interface using a pen or stylus and tablet, over input devices such as a keyboard or a mouse.
A photocopier is a machine that makes copies of documents and other visual images onto paper or plastic film quickly and cheaply. Most modern photocopiers use a technology called xerography, a dry process that uses electrostatic charges on a light-sensitive photoreceptor to first attract and then transfer toner particles onto paper in the form of an image. The toner is then fused onto the paper using heat, pressure, or a combination of both. Copiers can also use other technologies, such as inkjet, but xerography is standard for office copying.
Livescribe is a paper-based computing platform that consists of a digital pen, digital paper, software applications, and developer tools.
LeapFrog Tag is an electronic handheld stylus that stores audio for proprietary paper books made by LeapFrog Enterprises. When in use the stylus is scanned across the page of a book, activating the stylus to play the prerecorded audio stored inside the stylus. When a word is scanned, for example, the stylus "reads" the word aloud to the user. The user can also play various games through this technique. LeapFrog Enterprises introduced it as the successor to the LeapPad which served as a platform for interactive books. The Tag stylus and the proprietary Tag books are primarily targeted to young children learning to read.