SMART Board Interactive Whiteboard For Dummies

How Does the Interactive Whiteboard Know Which SMART Pen Tray Tool I’m Using?

The SMART Pen Tray’s built-in optical sensors detect when a tool is lifted from the tray. As soon as the tool is lifted, information is sent to the computer. The program then waits for that particular tool to make contact with the whiteboard. It knows the chosen color (if it’s a pen), and it knows to erase (if it’s an eraser). The LEDs on the Pen Tray indicate which tool is active.

I know what you’re thinking: What if more than one pen and/or eraser is removed from the tray? How does the interactive whiteboard know which one to use? The very clever designers at SMART Technologies understand that presenters and instructors don’t put things back in the same places when they’re in the middle of presentations, so they made sure that the last tool that’s selected is the active one. Brilliant!

Even more mind-bendingly cool is the Touch Recognition feature in some newer SMART Board interactive whiteboards. On these models, the digital cameras that track your touches on the screen can actually tell whether you’re using a pen, using your finger as a pen, using an eraser, or using the palm of your hand as an eraser — all based on the size of contact with the surface. What will they think of next?