C-Pen Connect

This digital highlighter is a handy companion to working with printed materials. It will copy the text to your notes via phone or tablet, read print out loud or translate words for you.

ℹ About

C-Pen connect is the cheaper and more flexible alternative to the C-Pen Reader and Lingo pens. It is a great way to anybody to quickly copy text from a printed source into their notes. For many people with print disabilities, it reads any text out and can event translate it via a link to Google translate.

It requires a smart phone or a tablet with a C-Pen app. It connects via Bluetooth and charges via micro USB. It is small and light enough to fit into a small pocket.

Compared to an app on the phone, it is much more expensive and requires more initial set up (e.g. it takes a while to connect, has to be charged). But one in the flow of things, it provides a much smoother experience.

Pros

• Text is available immediately on the phone and is read out using a synthetic voice if necessary.
• Individual lines are automatically appended for larger paragraph.
• It is very accurate in text recognition and covers a large range of font sizes and alphabets.
• It does not require too much precision, fine motor control or strength to keep it attached to paper.
• It is also much cheaper than the stand alone options.

Cons

• It can only scan one line at a time. How much of a problem this is will depend on the use case. It can even be a pro, if we think of it as a highlighter.
• It requires a phone or a tablet to connect to. This means thinking about charging, battery life or possible connection issues with bluetooth.
• It is still quite expensive compared to just an app that does a similar thing. But it is probably worth it to someone who spends a lot of time in libraries.

▶ Find out more

If you would like to get some hands on time with the reMarkable or any of our other devices or tools, please book a visit to the Reading and Writing Innovation Lab.

Summary