My Favorite Tech at Work: Mapping Fire Lines with a Digital Pen

Posted by: Rachael King on February 17, 2009

We’ve all got a must-have gadget that helps us get our jobs done more efficiently or with greater élan. In some cases, the right tech can even help save lives. That’s the case for Michael Hoose, a firefighter at the Santa Barbara Fire Department, who uses a digital pen that helps him update maps to track the spread of a blaze. I caught up with Hoose late Friday afternoon and am using his story in the first installment of a new series called My Favorite Tech at Work where we will profile BusinessWeek readers from around the world and showcase the technology that’s helping them do their jobs better. Hoose is pictured here, holding the Capturx digital pen from Adapx. Last Fall, Hoose used the pen during the Chalk Fire that burned more than 16,000 acres in the Los Padres National Forest in California.

The device functions much like a typical pen and Hoose uses it to mark up paper maps with ink. But the pen also digitizes and stores the handwritten notes on the map using its sensor, image processor and memory. The pen essentially takes about 75 snapshots per second and then can determine what is written or drawn and stores it in the pen’s memory. After Hoose updates the maps he docks the pen at a computer and using software from Adapx, he uploads the data into the county’s geodatabase. The Fire Department uses this information to track the spread of fires as well as hazard areas, water sources and safety zones. After Hoose uploads the information from the pen, he can then make any modifications needed and print out updated versions of the maps. “I’m not a geographic information systems specialist, I’m a fire guy with boots on the ground,” he says, adding that the pen is easy to use and gives him more time in the field.

During a fire, Hoose can walk for miles in areas that are hot and dirty. The paper maps take a beating yet he says the pen still works in that rough environment. And he doesn’t worry because if it were ever to fail, he’s still got the paper map he marked as backup. The pen is packaged with desktop software, a heavy-duty field notebook, pen replacement ink and Microsoft OneNote software. The entire package retails for $1,950.

Is there a new technology that’s giving you the edge at work? If so, please let us know and we may just profile you in My Favorite Tech at Work.