What can you do if you need to scan the pages of a book in a library but have no access to a scanner?
A pair of Taiwanese design students have come up with a novel solution — using the Web cam of a notebook computer.
“I often need to scan graphics or text for my research in order to have an electronic file version,” said Lai Chi-wei (賴智濰) of National Taipei University of Technology’s Graduate Institute of Innovation and Design.
“However, carrying a scanner around is impossible,” he said.
Lai and his partner Wang Chi considered installing a small scanner on a notebook, but decided that such a design would make the machine too heavy.
As a result, the second-year students decided to adapt a notebook Web cam.
They created an extendable “camera stick” that can be pulled out from the top of the computer screen — similar to an aerial, but with a tiny camera mounted on it.
The user can then turn the stick down 90 degrees so that the camera can be aimed at the book lying on the table next to the laptop. The focus and scope of the area to be photographed can be adjusted using additional controls at the edge of the screen.
The design makes the laptop “even more useful,” as many students take their notebook computers with them when they visit libraries, they said.
In addition to the camera design, the young designers also added a handle to the laptop to make it easier to carry. When the notebook is opened, the handle becomes a stand that props up the computer and angles the keyboard and screen toward the user, making it easier to type and allowing heat to be dissipated more efficiently.
The two ideas recently won the pair a silver award at a local innovation design competition and NT$100,000 in prize money.
There was no winner of the gold award because of the low number of entries, according to Taipei-based Elitegroup Computer Systems Co, which organized the contest.
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