SMART announces interactive flat panel 'Board 8055i' in India

The technological wave has hit the educational sector and it's not only pen and paper that are likely to be replaced by electronic devices, but as suggested by a recent study, even classroom boards and chalk/pens face a similar threat. SMART has announced one such educational solution in the form of the SMART Board 8055i interactive flat panel, which is a 55-inch touchscreen board. It blends a high-definition, shadow-free, 55–inch LCD display with advanced multi-touch capabilities and SMART Notebook collaborative learning software. It also offers access to the SMART Exchange website, wherein educators can connect, share and download nearly 60,000 digital resources.

On its way to making teaching interactive...

The board is highly interactive with features like presence detection and support for freestyle interaction that allows users to select, move or write over objects simultaneously for increased interaction. The presence detection automatically detects user movements for quick startup and automatic shut-down which eventually helps with power saving. The incorporated DViT (Digital Vision Touch) technology for the interactive panel enhances multi-touch experience, freestyle interaction, touch gestures and object awareness.

“The introduction of this interactive flat panel expands our display line, offering educators flexibility and choice as they plan their teaching, learning and student collaboration spaces,” says Linda Thomas, Vice President, Products, SMART Technologies. “We will continue to develop and expand our line of displays, including our interactive projectors, to offer even more choice to our customers and strengthen our position as a leading provider of collaborative learning solutions.”

A quick look at the highlights of the SMART Board 8055i -

• Commercial-grade, touch-enabled display: The 55-inch commercial-grade high-definition display is powered by DViT technology for a vivid display and touch experience. It has a hardened, scratch resistant, anti-glare etched glass for reducing friction and eliminating reflections.
• Natural touch gestures – The screen accepts common multi-touch gestures like panning, flicking pages and object gestures, such as zoom, toss and rotate.
• Object awareness – It can identify when users switch between a finger, a pen or an eraser. Users can write with a pen, erase with a palm and move objects with their finger, without having to press buttons, access on-screen menus or replace tools.
• SMART Ink – Write notes over any lesson and save them as a SMART Notebook file and turn handwritten notes into text objects to manipulate.
• Presence detection – Sensors detect and automatically respond to user movements, so the interactive flat panel turns on and stays in active mode when people are near and turns off when no movement is detected.

There is no word yet on the pricing of the SMART Board 8055i. However, it is expected to hit Indian stores in August. SMART also plans to release a series of these SMART Boards in varying screen sizes.