Virtual Ink Announces Whiteboard Collabaration for Mac

Adding to the growing list of PC vendors making the debut at MACWORLD, Virtual Ink demonstrated mimio, a product which can turn any standard whiteboard into a digital canvas and collaboration space. The system consists of a receiver which you attach to your whiteboard, a special stylus into which you insert your existing markers, a digital eraser, and software to bring it all together.

As expected, the standard mimio software can capture anything that you draw on a whiteboard, and save it for future reference. This should fit nicely in the corporate and education markets, where a whiteboard is a standard fixture. But an upcoming title called mimioMouse, slated for August 2000 release, goes beyond simply capturing your images. By using a projector, you can project your Mac desktop, and use the mimio stylus to interact with and control your Mac.

An upcoming feature, which should be available in Q4 2000, will allow developers to create custom templates. The example we were shown by CEO Greg McHale was a calculator. After placing a calculator overlay on the whiteboard, we were then able to perform calculations by pressing buttons on the whiteboard, and seeing the result on the connected iBook.

mimio for Mac will be available in September 2000 with an estimated street price of US$599.