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Collusion - iPad pen productivity solved

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Re: Collusion - iPad pen productivity solved

#4
post #2

Seems like two different products - the app and the pen. I don't see how the app couldn't be created without the pen or the pen created without the app.

The pen can't be created without the app because it uses a receiver that's plugged into the 30pin port using the Apple iAccessory Protocol. This means the application is required in order to actually implement the software side of the accessory.

As for the app without the pen, that would certainly work. In fact the $139 level includes 2 promo codes for a touch-only preview version of the app (only usable until the public launch).

Re: Collusion - iPad pen productivity solved

#5
The video still shows a lot of lag between when the stylus touches the glass and the pixels in the app show the pen trail. This needs to be heavily optimized or else it will make their hardware a lot of engineering work for nothing and users won't be happy. At this stage, from the video, it looks to have similar latency as other existing iPad sketch apps and those have no hardware dongle or stylus (and cost $100 less.)

Re: Collusion - iPad pen productivity solved

#6
I would rather use this on an $80 android tablet than a $500 iPad. I'd be a lot more likely to take it with me everywhere if dropping it wasn't so costly.

Come to think of it, I'd rather use an android with a custom ROM that turned it into dedicated writing/drawing device.

Edit: watching this video also made me think of how much better math textbooks could be on dedicated writing tablets.

I'm going back to school to finish up a math degree, so I've recently been reading a lot of math textbooks. An interactive version on a dedicated tablet would be amazing.

Think about it--animated examples, working out problems right there on the page, writing a function and then tapping it to automatically graph it.

Re: Collusion - iPad pen productivity solved

#7
post #5

The video still shows a lot of lag between when the stylus touches the glass and the pixels in the app show the pen trail. This needs to be heavily optimized or else it will make their hardware a lot of engineering work for nothing and users won't be happy. At this stage, from the video, it looks to have similar latency as other existing iPad sketch apps and those have no hardware dongle or stylus (and cost $100 less…

There is no way to optimize it as the matter is out of their hand. Its just the delay for input events to go from hardware to kernel to user land.

MS Research had a neat demo on this very topic some time ago.

Edit: never mind, it seems they use their own hardware. In that case, it would be interesting to know if iOS allows fast raw access to the external periphery.

Re: Collusion - iPad pen productivity solved

#8
post #5

The video still shows a lot of lag between when the stylus touches the glass and the pixels in the app show the pen trail. This needs to be heavily optimized or else it will make their hardware a lot of engineering work for nothing and users won't be happy. At this stage, from the video, it looks to have similar latency as other existing iPad sketch apps and those have no hardware dongle or stylus (and cost $100 less…

There is no way to optimize it as the matter is out of their hand. Its just the delay for input events to go from hardware to kernel to user land. MS Research had a neat demo on this very topic some time ago. Edit: never mind, it seems they use their own hardware. In that case, it would be interesting to know if iOS allows fast raw access to the external periphery.

This is the demo video you're talking about : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOvQCPLkPt4

Re: Collusion - iPad pen productivity solved

#9
post #5

The video still shows a lot of lag between when the stylus touches the glass and the pixels in the app show the pen trail. This needs to be heavily optimized or else it will make their hardware a lot of engineering work for nothing and users won't be happy. At this stage, from the video, it looks to have similar latency as other existing iPad sketch apps and those have no hardware dongle or stylus (and cost $100 less…

I believe the hardware limit on iPads is still pretty shitty compared to some next gen touchscreens. It is already likely reasonably optimized.
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