STMicroelectronics (Korea Branch Representative Park Jun-sik), CEVA, and Wacom are collaborating to leverage their expertise to develop a digital pen with advanced sensors.

ST announced on the 6th that it is collaborating with CEVA and Wacom to provide an improved digital pen experience.

This is achieved through a new wireless sensor module that expands digital pen functionality with advanced gesture, cursor, and motion control. This collaboration leverages the expertise of the three companies to help OEMs develop advanced sensor-enabled digital pens that enhance the value of smartphones, tablets, laptops, PCs, interactive whiteboards, and other smart display products.

This 'AES Rear IMU (Active ES® (AES) Rear Motion™) module' features Wacom's digital pen technology, ST's low-power 6-axis inertial measurement unit (IMU) sensor and custom version of BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) SoC (System-on-Chip), as well as CEVA's motion control software, MotionEngine™ Air.

It is implemented in a low-power, ultra-small design that is easy to integrate into a digital pen form factor. Support for motion-based pointing, gesture control, and 3D motion tracking allows OEMs to leverage customizable modular reference designs to implement a variety of new applications, user experiences, and features.

This sensor-enabled digital pen can also be used as a wireless presentation controller, allowing you to control the on-screen cursor with natural hand movements.

It can also be programmed to replace complex sequences of menus and tabs with a single gesture. The software features CEVA's patented orientation compensation and adaptive shake reduction technology, ensuring a highly consistent and intuitive user experience across a wide range of applications.

“The adoption of digital pens is growing at a phenomenal rate and will continue to do so as innovative use cases and the technology that can be embedded in pens grow,” said Simone Ferri, Director of ST’s Consumer MEMS Business Unit. “The accuracy and small size of our IMU sensors and BLE SoCs provide the ideal form factor for digital pen sensing and connectivity, and this reference design makes this technology accessible to Wacom’s broad customer base.”