Device retrofits any whiteboard with smart capabilities

Smartmarker enables users to stream their notes and presentations in real time without having to change their working style or materials.

Regular readers may remember our recent article about SMART kapp, a high-tech whiteboard which automatically syncs meeting notes to colleagues’ mobile devices. Now Equil are offering a similar device called the Smartmarker, which enables users to live-stream, save and share their whiteboard notes without replacing their existing equipment.

Equil’s Smartpen 2 already enables users to easily convert handwritten notes and sketches into digital files, and now the Smartmarker lets customers do the same on a much larger canvas. Smartmarker is a simple yet hi-tech device which retrofits surfaces and dry erase markers, enabling users to stream their notes and presentations in real-time without having to change their existing working style or materials.

To begin, users simply attach the Smartmarker sensor to their whiteboard work surface — this can be a mounted or rolling whiteboard, glass surface, or walls painted with whiteboard paint. The sensor is portable and works on surfaces up to 16 feet wide. Next, the user inserts a standard whiteboard pen into the Smartmarker sleeve and begins to work as usual. The device is used in conjunction with Equil Note Stream or Equil Note 3. It connects to their computer or mobile device via bluetooth and enables the writer to stream their workings in real time. Users can stream notes to local and remote colleagues or capture them using the Smartmarker’s inbuilt memory for download later.

Equil have recognized that despite the convenience of digital solutions, lots of workers simply prefer, or work more easily, using familiar tools — whether that be pencil and paper or whiteboard and marker. Is there other office equipment which could be retrofitted with smart capabilities?