AVRover Onfinity Portable Whiteboard System
An Interactive Whiteboard With No White Board Needed
Nov 24, 2008
On today’s market there are many different Interactive White Board systems. Big names such as SmartBoard and ActivBoard dominate the market, but newer lesser known companies are coming out with some innovative and cost effective products of their own.
The Onfinity CM2 Max by AVRover is one totally unlike the major competitors not only in terms of size but also in the way it works.
What Makes The Onfinity Portable WhiteBoard System Different?
The vast majority of IWB systems work on a touch based system. Different brands use different technologies to interpret the position of this touch, but all work in basically the same way. When a user touches the whiteboard surface with a pen or with their finger the IWB hardware acts as a second mouse, controlling the computer from the whiteboard itself. They have become very popular in educational classroom settings by adding a new level of interactivity to the teaching. To businesses they provide a means to get their point across in a more expressive fashion.
In order to sense this touch a sensor of some type is affixed to the whiteboard or wall and this sensor translates the data into mouse coordinates. In contrast the Onfinity system is a purely optical system that sits next to the video projector and monitors the projected image. Using a special telescoping wand or pen the Onfinity system notices where the pointer is in relation to the image as a whole and converts that information into mouse coordinates.
Onfinity CM2 Max Pros and Cons
The number one positive aspect of the Onfinity system is convenience. The convenience associated with having the unit simply lay on the table or attach to the video projector makes it one of the easiest and most versatile systems on the market today.
The Onfinity also allows any surface to become an Interactive White Board. Even brick or other non-smooth surfaces could be used as the projection surface and the Onfinity would still work just fine. Other portable IWB brands require the use of suction cups or special clamps that require an existing white board to be mounted on the wall. The Onfinity will even work with rear projection screens.
On the down side, being an optical system, the Onfinity is vulnerable to ambient light issues (although the company says that these problems are currently being addressed). These can result in less than perfect tracking of the pen or stylus that can hinder a presentation.
Overall however, the Onfinity CM2 Max seems to be a very capable product and sells at a price point that is much less than traditional fixed installation Interactive White Board units.
