ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY BLOG | INVENTIONS FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

As a child, one of my favorite toys was an Etch a Sketch. I could spend endless hours creating wonderful masterpieces on it by turning the two white dials. In some ways the Boogie Board Rip LCD Writing Tablet reminds me of the Etch a Sketch. The Boogie Board Rip is similar in many respects to the original Boogie Board that I reviewed last year, but adds the one important feature of being able to save your drawings and transfer them to your computer. You will notice when you unbox your Boogie Board Rip that in addition to the Erase button you will find a Status and a Save/Wake button. You will also notice that the Boogie Board Rip now includes a stylus that you will need to use in order to save your rendered drawings. There is also a Lock and Unlock switch on the top left side to help you from accidentally erasing your drawings when you store the Boogie Board Rip. To get started with the Boogie Board Rip, I pulled out the stylus and unlocked the device and started doodling.  I have always enjoyed the feel of writing and drawing on the Boogie Board Rip- it has a really smooth and luxurious feel to it as the stylus glides on the surface to unveil a light hued green ink. Using the stylus it is now possible to make finer lines and accent your drawings. I have to say there is something addictive about using the Boogie Board Rip for drawing and doodling and I know others will feel the same. The Boogie Board Rip can stay charged for up to 60 days and comes with a rechargeable Lithium battery that is charged via the USB cable connected to a computer or a power source.

A lot of the original Boogie Board users had asked for the capability of being able to save heir drawings and with the Boogie Board Rip it is now possible. After you have completed the drawing using the stylus you simply press the Save button and you will notice that it will quickly flash-letting you know that the file has been saved. Now all you need to do is plug in the micro USB cable to your computer and the Boogie Board Rip  will mount as a drive and you will see all of your pictures saved as a PDF file which you can drag over to your computer to open. The Boogie Board Rip saves the file as a vectorized PDF file which can be opened by Adobe Acrobat Reader or Adobe Illustrator. The Boogie Board Rip can store up to 200 drawings and is a great way to archive your work. The Boogie Board Rip is a fun device to use and I'm sure you will find lots of ways to use it in the office or classroom. If you have some ideas on how you would use the Boogie Board Rip please leave me a comment. The Boogie Board Rip sell for $129 dollars and for more information you can click here. The Boogie Board Rip is a fun and engaging tool and one I know I will use over and over. Just think how much paper I will save doodling- happy doodling!