Enabling Object Awareness

NOTE: This feature is available only with some SMART products, including SMART Board 800 series interactive whiteboards and SMART Board 600 series interactive whiteboards purchased in 2009 or later. If you have an older interactive whiteboard, you can purchase a new controller to obtain Object Awareness.

Object Awareness (also known as Touch Recognition) enables you to pick up a pen tray pen, and then write, select or erase without putting the pen back. You interactive product interprets your intent when you press the screen, based on the size of the contact area. Customize Object Awareness's sensitivity to suit your style of pressing the screen.

If you’re using a SMART Board 800 series interactive whiteboard and you want any touch on the interactive whiteboard’s surface to register as a specific tool, such as a pen, eraser, or Select tool, regardless of the size of the contact area, you can enable the lockable pen option. For example, if you select the pen tool, pressing the screen with either a pen tray pen, your finger, the palm of your hand or any other object creates digital ink on the interactive whiteboard. Use the lockable pen option if you’re more comfortable using a larger object, such as a tennis ball, to write on the interactive whiteboard.

To determine whether your SMART Board interactive whiteboard supports Object Awareness

  1. Open the SMART Notebook control panel.

  1. Press SMART Hardware Settings.

The upper area of the control panel displays an image of the SMART product connected to the computer.

  1. If your computer is connected to more than one SMART product, the upper area of the control panel displays an image of each SMART product. Press the image of the interactive whiteboard you want to check.

  2. Select Hardware Info and Settings in the list.

The information on this page includes the serial number for the controller in your interactive whiteboard. If the serial number ends in -F, your interactive whiteboard supports Object Awareness.

NOTE: The serial number for the controller in your interactive whiteboard isn’t the same as the serial number for the interactive whiteboard itself.

To enable Object Awareness

  1. Open the SMART Notebook control panel.

  1. Press SMART Hardware Settings.

The upper area of the control panel displays an image of the SMART product connected to the computer.

  1. If your computer is connected to more than one SMART product, the upper area of the control panel displays an image of each SMART product. Press the image of the interactive whiteboard with the settings you want to change.

  2. Select Mouse and Gesture Settings in the list.

  3. Select Enable Touch Recognition.

NOTES

If you’re unable to select the Enable Touch Recognition check box, Object Awareness isn’t available for the selected SMART hardware product.

To disable Object Awareness, clear the selection of Enable Touch Recognition.

  1. Customize Object Awareness’s sensitivity to suit your style of pressing the screen as described in the next procedure.

To customize Object Awareness

  1. If you want to change how SMART Notebook software interprets your intent when you press the screen, press Touch Recognition Settings, and then move the sliders as follows:

  2. If you move the left slider to the right, SMART Notebook interprets a wider range of contact area sizes as an attempt to erase digital ink.

  3. If you move the right slider to the left, SMART Notebook interprets a wider range of contact area sizes as an attempt to write or draw in digital ink.

SMART Notebook interprets every size of contact area between these two sliders as an attempt to left-click.

NOTE: To reset Object Awareness’s default settings, press Defaults.

  1. Pick up a pen tray pen, and then press inside the square below the sliders using the pen, your finger, and then your palm. If the Object Awareness sensitivity is appropriate for your style of pressing the screen, you can write with the pen, select with your finger and erase with your palm. If SMART Notebook misinterprets your intent when you press the screen on any of these occasions, adjust the sliders as detailed above.

  2. Press OK to save your settings.

  3. Press OK to close the control panel.

To enable the lockable pen option (SMART Board 800 series interactive whiteboards only)

  1. Press one of the pen tray’s buttons for at least three seconds to lock it.

    NOTE: The selected pen tray light blinks to indicate you’re using the lockable pen option.

  2. When done, press any pen tray color button to unlock the button.