Caanoo / WIZ Wiz Note-taking Application

[DurTahar]

I couldn't really imagine using the Wiz as a full-on classroom note-taking device, but being able to jot down quick notes on it would be fantastic. I would definitely use a program like this.

 

[scrapheap]

Assuming that it is only black and white, even without compression each image would only take up ~10KB which means that you could have a lot of notes on any storage. The key issue with this is how much information can you get on each page, but the best way to find out is to give it a try. I definitely like the idea though.

 

[Dunny]

I don't know why I didn't think of WizNote before actually . I mean, it's pretty much along the same lines as how I thought of WizJot but I didn't think of it .

Another possibility is "WizPad"?

That's what we call incontinence pads at work.

D.

 

[mindlord]

You could do no character recognition, but still keep the concept.
How about this: You draw one letter at a time, but the software just shrinks it to about 12 or 18 px. A thin dashed line provides the reference point for half height letters so the software can figure out Upper case, or "tall" lower case letters from "short" lower case fairly simply by averaging the amount of pixels above the dashed line. greater than 10% or so would be a tall letter like "l" or "f". These shrunken snapshots could then be lined up to form words. Simple gestures or easy to hit buttons could allow the user to space or carriage return. It's not handwriting recognition, but gets the job done.

This way you could fit lots of text on the screen, but leave plenty of room for writing.

You could do OCR on it after the fact and turn it into something that [Insert favorite text editor here] can work with.

 

[sam fisher]

Definitely something to think about but the first release will almost certainly just support free hand drawing, probably with multiple colours, highlighting and stuff. Doesn't mean that the other stuff won't go into it in a later version. The first release milestone will be V0.1 so certainly not the intended V1.0 milestone. I would like to have a go at character recognition at some point so it may well make it's way into this at some point.

 

[rx_shorty]

Heh that shrink feature would be nice

 

[gruso]

Last year someone was working on a similar thing for GP2X, except they were focusing on character recognition. It showed some promise but got shelved, partially due to concerns over Palm patents IIRC. I don't know if you're interested in checking it out at all, but I'll dig out the name of it when I get home (I've probably still got the test app on my PC somewhere).

 

[sam fisher]

Kk. Hmm, is it possible to patent an algorithm in the UK I wonder. That kind of sounds like one of those stupid US things (like all the suing that seems to go on over there).

 

[gruso]

Ah here we go. Turns out it was Trevor Bradley. Looks like it was the "graffiti" style character recognition that caused him some concern.

http://www.gp32x.de/board/index.php?showtopic=41383

http://www.gp32x.de/board/index.php?showtopic=41395

QUOTE
Ahh foo...

I talked with my co-worker who deals in copyright/patent law. Looks like there is actually a patent issue here. I'm sure we'd slip under the radar, but I'm not sure I should spend time continuing development only to receive a nasty letter a few months down the road.


Obviously not a concern for you at this point, but I thought the threads might be interesting.

 

[sam fisher]

Currently handwriting recognition is way off in my list of things (and not something I would really use myself anyway.

 

[b1ueskycomp1ex]

I think the idea of drawing one letter at a time and having the software magically shrink it down to eventually create works sounds pretty cool, but the freehand drawing makes perfect sense to me, if the notes were in pages (draw on a page, press a forward button, draw on a second page, etc. etc. where each page is a separate file. This is exactly the sort of thing I was thinking would be cool for the wiz. Also, on a somewhat unrelated note, a text editor with on-screen keyboard would be a great idea (typing on one line at a time, given the small size of the screen on the wiz) as it would allow you to keep typed notes.

 

[sam fisher]

It should feature an onscreen keyboard (courtesy of ruckage) for notebook name entry so with some modification maybe that may also we an input method. I have also stolen trevor bradleys idea from his GP2x app of not shrinking down individual letters but individual words (at least to start with) and of course there will be the freehand drawing also. That is three possible input methods.

Also, yes the notebooks will be split into pages.

 

[gruso]

Nice to hear you're going to use some of Ruckage's touch screen code. I don't know why, but his touch interfaces are always a joy to use. Maybe it's just the pretty graphics... but I'm convinced there's more to it than that.

 

[sam fisher]

He spends a lot of time customizing it for each game so that is why. It is really just he puts so much effort into the graphics and the code. I will just be using his keyboard so don't expect everything to be as great as his. I will probably ask him if he can make some graphics for any menu I have in the app (such as selecting brush size etc.

 

[b1ueskycomp1ex]

He spends a lot of time customizing it for each game so that is why. It is really just he puts so much effort into the graphics and the code. I will just be using his keyboard so don't expect everything to be as great as his. I will probably ask him if he can make some graphics for any menu I have in the app (such as selecting brush size etc.

I think this sort of application is an absolutely brilliant idea.

 

[sam fisher]

I don't know if this topic should of been moved into this forum. Mainly as it is hardly a pipe dream by an end user but a requirement gathering medium for a developer who will definitely be producing the application.

 

[b1ueskycomp1ex]

I don't know if this topic should of been moved into this forum. Mainly as it is hardly a pipe dream by an end user but a requirement gathering medium for a developer who will definitely be producing the application.

I will quote you on this.

<.<

>.>

=D I'm looking forward to it!

 

[sam fisher]

Development starts in just over a week (I'm going on holiday in the mean time ).

 

[WarmFluffyUK]

.

Good luck and have fun on your holiday