This article was published on April 5, 2024

It is designed to help people who struggle with illiteracy

The World Literacy Foundation and Dutch marketing firm Media.Monks have teamed up to create a pen designed to help millions of people around the world grappling with illiteracy.

The device, dubbed Literacy Pen, is compatible with any standard pen or pencil. Users slip the device onto the pen and then speak their desired words into the built-in microphone.

V oice dictation technology then transcribes these words, letter by letter, onto a digital screen built-in to the device. The user can then copy the words they see onto paper all using the one pen.

“The device ensures an effective learning experience by focusing on key aspects of literacy development, such as written and visual repetition,” said its makers.

Its small size is designed to make it accessible for users of all ages and abilities.

While text-to-speech pens — which use optical character recognition (OCR) technology to read aloud printed text — are quite common, speech-to-text pens are not.

According to the Finnish Reading Center , an NGO which promotes reading and literacy, one in seven adults worldwide are illiterate. This can stem from a number of factors such as poor access to education, poverty, and language disorders.

The repercussions are profound. Illiteracy makes it much harder for individuals to get employed. In many cases, it perpetuates cycles of poverty.

If the literacy pen can be rolled out en masse to the places that need it most, I can only imagine its impact on people’s lives.

We’ve reached out to the creators and will update this story if/when we receive a response.

Siôn is a freelance science and technology reporter, specialising in climate and energy. From nuclear fusion breakthroughs to electric vehic (show all) Siôn is a freelance science and technology reporter, specialising in climate and energy. From nuclear fusion breakthroughs to electric vehicles, he's happiest sourcing a scoop, investigating the impact of emerging technologies, and even putting them to the test. He has five years of journalism experience and holds a dual degree in media and environmental science from the University of Cape Town, South Africa. When he's not writing, you can probably find Siôn out hiking, surfing, playing the drums or catering to his moderate caffeine addiction. You can contact him at: sion.geschwindt [at] protonmail [dot] com