My name is Tino Agnitti, I graduated in 1999 with a BS degree from the Rochester Institute of Technology in the field of Management Information Systems and have been managing technical projects ever since.  Back in May 2008 I was asked to be a part of a Career Day presentation.  In an effort to inspire the kids I had come across Johnny Lee's video on the wiimote whiteboard and immediately knew this was going to be the highlight of the presentation.  I went out and created my initial pen using the following hardware:

• An old pen (it was too small in hindsight)
• An IR LED that i picked up from Radio Shack (276-143)
• A size "N" battery holder from Radio Shack (270-405)
• A size "N" battery also from Radio Shack (23-023)
• A momentary tact switch from Radio Shack (275-002)
• My initial pen worked pretty well, but it had the battery kind of dangling out of the top so I was interested in a better form factor that would hide the battery.  I also noticed that the batteries in a size "N" were a bit pricey from the Shack ($3.99 for 2).

Our Gen1 pen uses the following specifications:

A used Whiteboard or highlighter IR LED Vishay 6400 A 5mm surface mount momentary tact switch AAA Battery A AAA" battery holder

Why can't I just build my own?

You can, and you should :).  Here is the site I use to acquire the parts for these pens:

www.digikey.com

There are also plenty of online resources to build both IR Pens and IR Glasses for use with Johnny Lee's (www.johnnylee.net) software.  If you're still reading this you're trying to decide whether you should buy the equipment (soldering pen, wire, switches, ir led, and find an old marker) or just order one and wait a couple of days for one to arrive by mail.  We are trying to speed up implementation so that you can start working with the wiiwhiteboard today!  How confident are you in your soldering abilities?

Where does my money go?

• I donate a portion of each pen sold to Boon Jin and his work with the smoothboard.
• A portion goes toward product enhancements.  I recently had custom vinyl end caps made for the ends of our pens to make it easier to swap out the battery.  Some of our friends are trying them out now.  Our primary order will be here within the next week or so, and we will be sending it out to all of our customers that have the original whiteboard end cap.  Please drop me an email if you would like to order just the cap for your own implementation.  I will be selling them for $0.20 each.  It makes it much easier to swap out the battery than the original whiteboard end cap.

• We also continue to improve/enhance our product to push the envelope.  Here's a sneak peek at a 2 button pen currently being evaluated.  We're trying to differentiate between a right and left click using a 555 timer.

• Our biggest accomplishment of 2009 has been 2 revisions of The Groove and the completion of The Spot (a custom wiimote mounting device).  Both of our products have allowed us to really push the envelope and boundaries for a low cost interactive whiteboard.  We feel our patent pending technology will allow much easier and more intuitive access to the wiimote whiteboard.

Projects in the works (R & D, and where most of the proceeds of IRPensOnline are allocated):

• Rear project film feasiblity analysis (3M Vikuiti product).  This film works great for rear projection, unfortunately IR light does not pass through.  We're looking for other materials that will make a better rear projection film.(complete)
• "The Spot".  This product will be coming soon.  We're creating a molded attachment so that users can mount their wiimotes on a standard tripod.  Just screw "The Spot" onto the tripod and clip in your wiimote.  This will also work with mini tripods. (complete)
• Improved portable display surfaces
• Enhanced targetting system
• Improvements and R&D for our next pen

My hope is to combine elements to create a multi-point, multi-person interactive display.  Your support goes towards allowing us to build out the hardware for our next generation products and services to work with your wiiwhiteboard implementation.

For those interested in a class project we also offer kits with all of the materials.  Please contact sales@irpensonline.com for more information.