[Harumanbo Harucheonja] "Smartpen Made with Ink Pen... Also Analyzes Psychological State Through Data"

Neolab Convergence Holds Technology to Digitize Handwritten Notes on Paper
'Neo Smartpen' Made with Ink Pen, Stimulates Analog Sensibility
Can Detect Writing Pressure, Angle, and Writer's Psychological State

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Hye-seon] "We live in the digital age, but the nostalgia for handwriting still remains. The Neo Smartpen is a product created with the dream of a digital culture centered on people."

Lee Sang-gyu, CEO of NeoLab Convergence (51), introduced the smart pen he personally developed in an interview with Asia Economy, saying, "NeoLab Convergence is a company that creates new value by connecting the verbal and non-verbal information of the physical world in the fields of documents and handwriting to the digital world." The smart pen is gaining attention as a new input tool for the future. NeoLab is a leading company in the global smartphone market. Based on its core patented technology, Ncode, NeoLab possesses proprietary technology that digitizes handwriting written on paper. It holds over 120 patents. The Neo Smartpen is made as an ink pen, allowing users to feel analog sensibility. The moment you write on paper with this pen, it is immediately linked and saved to smartphones and computers.

Lee Sang-gyu, a KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology) graduate, is a software expert. As a venture entrepreneur from the classes of 1987 to 1993, including companies like Nexon and NCSoft, he co-founded Neowiz in 1996 with Jang Byung-gyu, chairman of Krafton, among others. During his time as CEO of Neowiz Japan, he wanted to create educational learning services, so in 2007, he left a stable life and stepped out into the world. Lee said, "To create learning services, input tools were necessary, and I judged that a pen could replace the keyboard and mouse," adding, "I wanted to create a product where actions starting from analog could naturally blend into the digital world without additional manipulation."

Lee, who elevated the Neo Smartpen to a global product, has expanded his influence into various fields, focusing mainly on educational settings. Through the development of NDP Cloud, he laid the foundation for digitizing handwriting information into digital documents. Last year, he established NeoLab Cloud and advanced the integration of handwriting information and documents with artificial intelligence (AI). Especially from this year, the company is strengthening its business in the edutech field. The 'AI Descriptive Evaluation Support System' is a representative example. To create an environment for customized smart education for students and schools, a partnership was formed with the Chungcheongnam-do Office of Education, and the system was developed. This support system will be utilized in schools under the Chungnam Office of Education starting next month.

Lee Sang-kyu, CEO of Neolab Co., Ltd., a smart pen manufacturing company that converts handwritten analog content into digital form, is explaining the feature where writing with the pen is simultaneously digitized and displayed on a monitor at the headquarters in Guro-gu, Seoul. Photo by Younghan Heo younghan@

Lee said, "Handwriting data is the only data that artificial intelligence has not yet handled," and "Pressure data measured in units of one-thousandth of a second can be used in various fields." When students use the smart pen to record their learning, teachers can check handwriting activities in real time and provide feedback. Especially for essay and descriptive questions, AI systematically analyzes grammar and vocabulary richness. Lee emphasized, "Offline learning materials accumulate as data, enabling personalized evaluation for each student," and "Teachers can understand students' learning growth and aptitudes through accumulated learning data."

It is also useful for psychological counseling. Lee said, "By looking at handwriting pressure and angle, you can understand the writer's psychological state," adding, "When writing in an angry state, pressure increases, and when unwilling to study, pressure decreases." Psychological tests are relatively expensive. The cost per person ranges from 200,000 to 1,000,000 KRW. The education office's budget for psychological tests per student per year is about 20,000 KRW, which is grossly insufficient. Lee said, "Psychological states can be understood through the content written on distributed paper worksheets and the erased trajectory data with erasers," and "As data accumulates, the effectiveness of psychological counseling will increase."

In the medical field, it helps diagnose dementia and Parkinson's disease through pen data when drawing prescribed shapes. Lee mentioned, "There is a diagnostic method where patients draw an analog clock showing 11:10 or 10:05," and "Doctors need to observe for 30 minutes during hospital tests, but with the smart pen, the drawing process is recorded, allowing tests to be conducted at home." He added, "We analyze data in 14 categories, including how much pressure was applied, the order of strokes, and the proportions of the completed drawing."

NeoLab recorded sales of 23 billion KRW last year. The company expects sales to exceed 30 billion KRW this year. Lee said, "There is no platform worldwide that can transmit and process digital handwriting data," and "Our role is to create an ecosystem that can utilize digital handwriting data, and our goal is to become the Roblox of the handwriting pen industry."