Epson Interactive Projectors

The projectors installed in your classrooms if are an interactive model can actually do more than 'just' project... they are "pen-interactive projectors". In short these turn your plain old white board into an 'interactive whiteboard', similar to the old Promethean/Smart boards, it's just that it's the projector that is tracking the tip of the pen, instead of the whiteboard.

Why bother?

What does this interactive functionality offer that you can just get from using a whiteboard pen on your whiteboard?

There's basically two levels of functionality: Useful, and POWERFUL (but a little more technical).

Useful

  • wipe the entire board with a click - no scrubbing and spraying!

  • lots of colour options - way more than you can expect relying on an array of whiteboard pens

  • more environmentally responsible (no pens to dispose of/ink to be refilled)

  • add a grid/lines as a background

  • undo/redo with a tap

  • annotate over images (eg using a highlighter) - this works particularly well with a visualiser

This level of functionality is accessible with no more faffing about than you need to use a visualiser; all you need to do is tap the pen on the board to reveal the pen menu, or press the Pen option on the projector remote control.

Once you have your interactive Epson pen, all you need to do is make sure there is functioning AA battery inside, and you should find it works automatically, just tap the tip of the pen on your board (while the projector is switched on), and the menu should appear.

Pen Mode Button

Interactive Menu Controls

Interactive Pens

You will need the interactive pen that is provided with each projector, if you don't have one, you can get one from the IT help desk, it will need the single AA battery replaced from time to time, that's it.

Calibration is automatic, but if you want to manually calibrate, click on the projector menu itself, and choose Auto or Manual Calibrate from the menu… but this is rarely necessary, the projector is very good at 'detecting' the pen, as long as it has a working battery!



You can use two pens together if you want, but this is unlikely... that's why two pens are provided: orange and blue...


They come in a magnetic white box so you can attach it to the whiteboard...


Pens can work with any similar projectors in other classrooms …. So if you're a specialist teacher you might want to carry your own...

Powerful, but more technical...

You can connect your laptop to the projector using the provided USB cable to connect your laptop to the control box, you can also:

  • Control your connected laptop with your pen, like it's your Trackpad cursor, rather then moving back and forth between the board and your laptop

  • Use an online screen whiteboard like Jamboard to save your whiteboard content, add a wide range of media (shapes, images), and share/collaborate with others easily.


You will need to download and install some software for this option to work:

https://epson.com/Support/wa00788a

Make sure you download and install the correct version for your operating system! The process of installation is a little tricky, so you might want to ask IT Support to do this for you....


You will need to set the resolution of your laptop (option + F1 is a useful shortcut) to 1280 x 768, or the pen won't calibrate correctly...