The digital pen is a ballpoint pen that has a camera at the tip and a computer inside. The digital pen “reads” a unique pattern printed on the paper form. This pattern is unique such that the pen can determine both the page’s identification and its location on that page. This pattern is applied to a form using one Mi-Forms Print on Demand (POD). Digital pen forms with the pattern in the background can be printed locally using color laser printers or by professional printers using offset or digital printing equipment.

The digital pen records the ink strokes written on each piece of paper. The user docks the pen and the ink data is transferred to the Mi-Forms Client locally for initial processing. Alternatively, the pen may transmit its data via Bluetooth to a device providing a network connection, which transmits the data to a Mi-Forms Server. Initial local PC processing creates local sessions from the ink and presents them to the user in Data Review Mode within the Mi-Forms Client. The user corrects any validation and recognition errors then submits the session just as they would a tablet session.