How does your interactive whiteboard work?
The interactive whiteboard functions as an input device for a computer, just like a mouse, enabling you to work in any application on the computer from the interactive whiteboard.
When you touch the interactive whiteboard’s surface, the four cameras located in the interactive whiteboard’s corners detect the contact’s horizontal and vertical (or x,y) coordinates. The computer interprets these coordinates and moves the pointer to the corresponding location on the interactive whiteboard’s surface.
Other components
Using the interactive whiteboard requires two additional components: a computer and a digital projector.
These components work together as follows:
The computer runs an application and sends the image to the projector.
The projector casts the image onto the interactive whiteboard.
The interactive whiteboard acts both as your computer’s monitor and its input devices, that is, its mouse and keyboard, enabling you to control any application by touching the interactive surface.
When you install SMART Product Drivers on the computer, the touch of your finger on the interactive surface becomes a mouse click, enabling you to control the computer from the interactive whiteboard. When you use a pen from the pen tray, the system detects which tool you’re using. SMART Product Drivers then interacts with the computer’s mouse driver to change the pointer to a colored pen, enabling you to write in digital ink on the desktop or any open application. When you use the eraser, you can erase the digital ink. You can even use your finger on the interactive whiteboard’s surface without returning the pen tray tools—automatic object awareness determines the tool you’re using on the interactive surface. You can also save your notes to a .notebook file, or directly into any Ink Aware application.