NOT only has she already achieved much fame from her writing works--which include novels and poetry--Margaret Atwood of Ottawa, Ontario, has created a marriage between the world of writing with technology. Atwood's LongPen technology has eliminated time and travel by allowing an author to attend book signings through cyberspace. Baffled? Let me explain. The LongPen is comprised of the use of a computer, a screen, an electronic writing tablet, a webcam, a mic, and a mechanical arm equipped with a real ink pen. At one end, the author can speak to, and see, his or her fan, and vice versa occurs on the other side. The author can then write a message or autorgraph on the writing tablet, and the mechanical arm (which is on location of the fan's side of the connection) will transmit exactly what was written, using a real ink pen!
This technology allows anyone to meet with anyone else for signings (not just for book authors--think hollywood and sports celebs as well) from the comfort of the signer's own home, eliminating the need for travel. Marketers of the LongPen boasts that this be a "Green" solution, reducing greenhouse gases from less plane travel. The LongPen technology also allows for more signings to occur in more locations, all in less time.
The most recent media coverage of the use of the LongPen was on Monday night at The World's Biggest Bookstore in Toronto, where Conrad Black was able to attend his book signing for "The Invincable Quest: the Life of Richard Milhous Nixon" from the comfort of his Florida home. If you would like to read media coverage of this event, visit CTV.ca Black uses Atwood's LongPen at virtual book signing.
Margaret Atwood demonstrates how the LongPen works.
See more of the LongPen in action.
For more information about Margaret Atwood, visit http://www.randomhouse.com/features/atwood/author.html
For the LongPen official website, visit http://www.longpen.com/index.html
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