In a belated note from the London Book Fair, we saw our first LongPen in action--and were more impressed than we thought possible, particularly considering some of the negative press the device received last year.

Invented by Margaret Atwood, the LongPen, now in its second iteration, allows authors to do signings long distance via the Internet and has a receiving kiosk that looks like a cross between a fancy ophthalmologist's machine, a sophisticated camera and a CAD/CAM. For now, the company has four kiosks of the second generation. The "author's end" is much smaller, "about the size of a bread box," as the company, called Unotchit, put it. (Atwood is chair of Unotchit.) At the London demonstration booth, the LongPen brilliantly reproduced everything from simple signatures to an intricate drawing that Atwood did. The "receiving" pen mimics the movements of the person on the sending end in an elegant, hypnotic way. It can sign books or pieces of paper with equal ease.

During the show, the LongPen was used for several long-distance signings, including (to London) Andrew Gross from New York, Dean Koontz from Newport Beach, Calif., Marilyn French from New York and Anita Shreve from Massachusetts as well as Mark Haddon from London to Random House offices in Toronto.

Via its built-in video conferencing screen, the machine allows people at either machine to communicate easily with one another. Although the pen can handle up to 60 signing an hour, readers find they have "more face time with the author" via Long Pen than at traditional signings, according to Bruce Walsh, v-p of marketing.

Unotchit has been speaking with several major bookstore chains in North America and the U.K. about using the machine. It also says that the LongPen can be used for "all kinds of celebrity signings" and could have a range of business applications.

Unotchit is even promoting the LongPen's environmental impact--based on the amount of carbon emissions saved when authors don't fly to an event.--John Mutter