Universal Stylus Initiative Launched to Create an Active Stylus Standard Specification

OEMs, stylus and touch controller manufacturers have announced the launch of Universal Stylus Initiative (USI), a new organization formed to develop and promote an industry specification for an active stylus.

The USI specification will make it possible for manufacturers to design products to a single standard, rather than the variety of proprietary approaches now in use, and it will be compatible with current notebook computer operating system requirements. USI seeks to provide a consistent user experience while increasing the availability and consumer appeal of the active stylus, through providing industry-wide interoperability and adding functions and features not supported by current styluses.

Founding members of USI include Atmel Corporation; Hanvon Pentech Co., Ltd.; Intel Corporation; Lenovo Inc.; Sharp Corporation; Synaptics Inc.; Wacom Co., Ltd.; and Waltop International Corp. at the Promoter level; and Dell Global B.V.; eGalax_eMPIA Technology Inc. (EETI); Elan Microelectronics Corporation; and Focal Tech Electronics, Ltd. at the Contributor level. Notably missing are Microsoft, which prominently features its own design stylus for the Surface tablet PC, and Apple, which has never as yet embraced stylus input for the iPad — although that may change if the rumored iPad Pro becomes a reality. Membership in USI is required in order to obtain the specification and to license the IP that it contains.

USI technology will enable interoperable communication between an active stylus and touch-enabled devices such as phones, tablets, and computing and entertainment platforms from numerous manufacturers, allowing consumers to seamlessly write or draw on different devices with one high-quality stylus that delivers a realistic pen-on-paper experience. The group expects to publish the initial version of the USI specification in the third quarter of 2015.

“USI’s founding members have come together to enable interoperable active styluses that function across many content creation devices,” says Ajay Bhatt, Intel Fellow. “Our goal is to make the active stylus more affordable and widely available in the market. Consumers who buy USI-compatible devices will know that they work seamlessly with each other while providing a high-quality writing or drawing experience.”

“The market has sorely been needing a universal communication standard for active stylus,” comments Jon Peddie of Jon Peddie Research. “To date the market has been limited by proprietary touch controller-stylus solutions, which limits OEM choices and cost reductions. With the USI specification released, we expect that the capacitive active stylus market will grow from 100 million units in 2015 to 300 million units in 2018, opening up new markets such as smartphones and all-in-one PCs.”

“With the right technologies and IT environment in place now, mobile products such as smartphones and tablets are ready to embrace the stylus as a primary input interface to support human creativity. As the IT industry and customers’ ability to manipulate their devices mature, we believe the stylus, the most intuitive tool in human history, is about to gain momentum rapidly among mobile products. Wacom is happy to take the lead in this momentous shift,” says Masahiko Yamada, president & CEO of Wacom.

“As a company engaged in developing and promoting the use of the stylus, the most natural input for digital devices, for over 17 years, Waltop has observed the increase in stylus demand for digital devices, as well as the decrease of pen use among students. An initiative to push forward the adoption of the stylus among digital users will effectively advance its use on all mobile devices, in addition to notebook computers,” observes Ben Lee, Vice President, Sales & Marketing. “Based on broad knowledge about using digital styluses developed over the years, Waltop is pleased to take part in this group in order to realize its long-lasting vision of bringing pens back to people in writing, sketching, and the numerous other occasions when grabbing a pen and a piece of paper seems so natural.”

Features of the USI specification include the method by which the stylus communicates with content creation devices and provides additional information such as stylus pressure levels, button presses, erasing, and other features. Through the same sensor that one’s finger uses to command a device, the stylus communicates via different frequencies to perform the action of writing — writing with up to 2048 different levels of pressure to give the pen-on-paper experience and render thinner or thicker lines in note-taking, painting and doodling, just like an ink pen.

USI is currently accepting additional member companies who are ready to be hands-on in completing and promoting a specification to achieve active stylus interoperability. USI welcomes any organization that wants to be involved in this industry initiative. Several membership levels are available.

Launched in 2015, Universal Stylus Initiative (USI) is an international not-for-profit technology trade association whose mission is to define industry-wide standards for interoperable communication between an active stylus and touch-enabled devices such as phones, tablets, and computing and entertainment platforms. The USI specification provides for a stylus capable of communicating with different touch sensors and touch controller integrated circuits, so that users can employ the same stylus across numerous touch-enabled devices, as long as each device’s touch controller is compliant with the USI specification.

More information about USI and USI technology is available at:
http://www.universalstylus.org

Source: Universal Stylus Initiative

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