The Universal Stylus Initiative (USI) is a
non-profit
A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...
alliance of companies promoting a
technical standard
A technical standard is an established Social norm, norm or requirement for a repeatable technical task which is applied to a common and repeated use of rules, conditions, guidelines or characteristics for products or related processes and producti ...
for interoperable
active pen
An active pen (also referred to as active stylus) is an input device that includes electronic components and allows users to write directly onto the display of a computing device such as a smartphone, tablet computer or ultrabook. The active pen m ...
stylus
A stylus is a writing utensil or tool for scribing or marking into softer materials. Different styluses were used to write in cuneiform by pressing into wet clay, and to scribe or carve into a wax tablet. Very hard styluses are also used to En ...
es on touchscreen devices such as phones, tablets, and computers.
It defines a two-way communication protocol between the stylus and the computer and allows the stylus to remember user preferences for ink color and stroke. It support 9-axis
inertial measurement.
Products started coming to market in 2019 including one stylus and several
Chromebook
Chromebook (sometimes stylized in lowercase as chromebook) is a line of laptops, desktops, tablets and all-in-one computers that run ChromeOS, a proprietary operating system developed by Google.
Chromebooks are optimised for web access. They al ...
s from different manufacturers.
By 2019, there were over 30 members, including Google and 3M, but some major players like Apple and Microsoft had not joined.
As of 2022, the promoters include Google, Intel, Lenovo, Samsung, and Synaptics. Dell, Sharp, and Wacom are contributors.
While USI promotes itself as an
open standard
An open standard is a standard that is openly accessible and usable by anyone. It is also a common prerequisite that open standards use an open license that provides for extensibility. Typically, anybody can participate in their development due to ...
, access to detailed specifications is restricted to paying members.
History
USI was launched on April 23, 2015, by a group of prominent OEMs, stylus and touch controller manufacturers.
* September 22, 2016: Release of the USI 1.0 Stylus and Device
Specification
A specification often refers to a set of documented requirements to be satisfied by a material, design, product, or service. A specification is often a type of technical standard.
There are different types of technical or engineering specificati ...
* September 26, 2019: Announcement of the first 14 companies with products using the USI 1.0 Specification
* June 10, 2020: Launch of the USI active stylus certification program
* February 28, 2022: Release of USI Version 2.0 specification
Features
USI 1.0
# Two-way communication protocol
# Support for multiple simultaneous styluses on a single device
# Pressure sensitivity (up to 2048 levels in USI 1.0)
# Button presses and eraser functionality
# Tilt detection
USI 2.0
# NFC wireless charging capability
# Support for
in-cell display panels
# Expanded tilt functionality
See also
*
Stylus (computing)
In computing, a stylus (or stylus pen) is a small pen-shaped instrument whose tip position on a computer monitor can be detected. It is used to draw, or make selections by tapping. While devices with touchscreens such as laptops, smartphones, ...
*
Digital pen
A digital pen is an input device which captures the handwriting or brush strokes of a user and converts handwritten analog information into digital data, enabling the data to be utilized in various applications. This type of pen is used in conjunc ...
*
Pen computing
Pen computing refers to any computer user-interface using a digital pen or Stylus (computing), stylus and Graphics tablet, tablet, over input devices such as a keyboard or a mouse.
Historically, pen computing (defined as a computer system employin ...
*
Active pen
An active pen (also referred to as active stylus) is an input device that includes electronic components and allows users to write directly onto the display of a computing device such as a smartphone, tablet computer or ultrabook. The active pen m ...
*
Wacom
*
Surface Pen
The Surface Pen is an active stylus and digital pen developed by Microsoft for its series of Surface computing devices. It is designed to showcase the pen computing capabilities of Microsoft's Windows 8/ 8.1, Windows 10 and Windows 11 operatin ...
*
Apple Pencil
Apple Pencil is a line of wireless stylus pen accessories designed and developed by Apple Inc. for use with supported iPad tablets.
The first-generation Apple Pencil was announced alongside the first iPad Pro on September 9, 2015. It communi ...
*
Computer mouse
A computer mouse (plural mice; also mouses) is a hand-held pointing device that detects Plane (mathematics), two-dimensional motion relative to a surface. This motion is typically translated into the motion of the Cursor (user interface)#Po ...
*
Human–computer interaction
Human–computer interaction (HCI) is the process through which people operate and engage with computer systems. Research in HCI covers the design and the use of computer technology, which focuses on the interfaces between people (users) and comp ...
References
External links
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Non-profit organizations based in Massachusetts