LongPen is a new device that will allow book authors to autograph the pages of their books for fans while they are sitting in another continent thousands of miles away.Here's how it works: The author scribbles a message using a stylus pen on a computer tablet. On the receiving end, in another city, a robotic arm fitted with a regular pen signs the book. The author and fan chat via webcam.
LongPen produces an unique signature each time because it copies the movement of the author in real time.The video exchange can be recorded on DVD for a memento or for proof when signing legal documents or credit-card transactions.
Watch a LongPen Demo
Watch a LongPen Book-signing Session
Source: LongPen | Yahoo! | Technovelgy
Find this article at: http://labnol.blogspot.com/2006/03/book-signing-with-longpen-omnipresent.html
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Reader Comments
Wow, that's hillarious!
But I think it will help, because I hate when I see something written by hand but printed by a computer :D
Written on 6/3/06 10:07 AM
Margaret Atwood, a well-known Canadian literary author, was suppposed to be the first author to use it, and the fans were waiting at a popular bookstore in my hometown. I think this was yesterday. Except the laptop receiving the transmissions malfunctioned.
The irony is that Atwood's novels have often touched on the loss of humanity in near-future societies. They're more "slipstream" novels than sci-fi.
But as a book reader, former author interviewer, and an aspiring novelist myself, I find this is idea to be absolutely idiotic. If, as a fan, I want an author's signature, I want it signed by their own pen. This is almost as bad as getting a "pre-signed" photo of a star, except that someone in the fan club has done all the signing.
Written on 6/3/06 7:53 PM