Margaret Atwood is an author who is in demand for signings all around the world. All that traveling was getting her down, so she invented a solution that let her sign anywhere without leaving home. The LongPen is a remote controlled pen. Whatever she writes on an electronic pad is duplicated by the pen at the site of the signing. She can interact with her fans over a videolink as the pen works its magic.

Atwood has set up a company to market the LongPen. Since the use of the devices is so specialized, the company will be leasing them instead of selling them. They see it as a way that authors can interact with fans in areas where they wouldn’t normally be able to go. They will be looking for uses beyond authors also. They have already used the device to sign hockey sticks and are working on a way to let it sign basketballs.