The Nuwa Pen Wants You to Grasp AI with a Camera-Packed Writing Tool for Automated Digitization

Extended reality startup Nuwa is looking to put a little artificial intelligence in your grip — literally — by embedded enough technology into a pen for it to track and digitize your writing, on any surface.

"With Nuwa Pen, you can write, draw, and scribble on any paper - from sticky to butcher paper - freeing you from the constraints of special paper notes," claims Nuwa's Marc Tuinier of the company's third product launch. "With AI-powered technology, Nuwa Pen provides two hours of continuous writing and recharges in just 15 minutes, keeping you focused and distraction-free."

The core concept behind the Nuwa Pen is simple: it writes on paper, like any other pen. Unlike a regular pen, though, it tracks the tip's movement and pressure with enough accuracy that it can digitize the writing or drawing — transmitting it to a smartphone, providing both a visual representation of the original and recognizing the text for full-text search.

Inside the pen, aside from the ink, is what Nuwa calls the TRIDENT imaging system — three cameras each capturing a 1.63mm image diagonal to track the pen's movement. While its rivals rely on patterned paper, though, the TRIDENT imaging system, linked to an Arm Cortex-M4 microcontroller, combined with orientation and gesture sensors and a 4,096-level pressure sensor, is claimed to work on any paper suitable for a regular pen.

The pen will work subscription-free, the company promises, but only for transferring notes as-written; automated text conversion and what the company calls "Augmented Notes" for automatic recognition of items like to-do lists and phone numbers requires a subscription, priced at $2.99 a month with the first year included in the purchase price.

The company is now crowdfunding production of the Nuwa Pen on Kickstarter, with physical rewards starting at €179 (around $197) including a pen, three ink refills, accessories, and a charging case which can top up the pen's internal battery five times before needing to be charged itself. Devices are expected to be shipped this May, the company has confirmed.