The new school year starts in March. Interest in creating the healthiest environment for studying tends to rise during this season. Over the past four years, the number of patents and registered designs for stationary- and desk-related products has shown a rapid increase.

Some examples are the digitalization of note taking, chairs that encourage better posture, light and audio systems that automatically adjust to the users’ needs, and so on.

The Neo Smartpen N2 can send notes to a phone app.

Many different technologies are being developed and tested for use in digitizing note-taking, for example. One new technology uses a digital pen and a custom notebook. Another uses an ordinary pen and then a notebook with a special code printed on it, making is possible to have a smart phone app pick up the information.

The Neo Smartpen N2 can save notes and send them directly to a phone app. It can handle five hours of continued use and save up to approximately 1,000 A4 pages of notes in its internal memory. The pen recognizes 256 different degrees of pressure made by the hand, not missing the finer details. Charging time is two hours and the pen conveniently turns on and off automatically depending on whether or not there's pressure on the tip.

Duoback chairs are equipped with speakers and offer better learning and music experiences.

A new type of chair has a headrest that doubles as a speaker, allowing easy connection with digital devices and encouraging the user to sit upright while listening to the audio, rather than having one’s head drawn forward to the monitor or toward some smart appliance. Earphone sockets and Bluetooth connectors are installed in the chair to provide better online learning and music experiences.

FEELUX provides a lighting system that adjusts to the given environment.

A wide variety of patents for special cubicle control systems are becoming more available, too. There are lighting systems that adjust to the environment’s luminosity, or ones that change color. There are sound systems that emit white noise, the sound of wind or waves, according to the weather, time or even the user’s feelings. These have all been developed to help the student feel more stable, less stressed, and to help heighten concentration.

A representative from the Korean Intellectual Property Office said that the number of patent registrations related to study aids, stationary and desk furniture is continuously rising. He added that new markets will be made as conventional companies combine their existing products with IT or form alliances with professional IT firms.

By Paik Hyun
Korea.net Staff Writer
Photos courtesy of the Korean Intellectual Property Office
cathy@korea.kr