Wacom Co., Ltd. (株式会社ワコム, Kabushiki gaisha Wakomu, /ˈwɑːkəm/) is a Japanese company headquartered in Kazo, Saitama, Japan, that specializes in manufacturing graphics tablets and related products.[3] As of 2012 Wacom generated sales of approximately 40.7 billion yen with 785 employees.[4] The company's shares are listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
History
The company was founded in 1983.[5] The name Wacom came from an abbreviated variation of World Computer (Japanese: ワールドコンピュータ, wārudo konpyūtā)
, with the syllable "wa" (和, Japanese for "harmony").[4]
Wacom was the first company to make pens without a cord, which it introduced in 1991;[6][7] it released its first pen display the following year.[8] Its products were initially targeted at professional artists, but by the late 1990s it aimed to expand to home users as well.[9]
In 2001, the company partnered with Sony to introduce a Vaio laptop with built-in touch functionality.[10]
Products
Wacom produces two categories of graphics tablets: those with a screen ('pen display') and those without ('tablet').[11] In addition, the company provides software for computers and software to interpret pen data.[7] Some pens have an eraser on the rear end.[12]
Cintiq
Wacom's professional pen displays are under the Cintiq line.[13] They allow for drawing directly on the screen, like drawing on paper,[14][15] and are more expensive than other Wacom products.[16] The Cintiq Companion is a portable variant of the Cintiq displays.[16]
A person drawing on a Cintiq tablet
A Wacom Cintiq 13HD
Intuos
Intuos graphics tablets do not have displays.[17] The first version was introduced in 1999, replacing the earlier ArtZ line.[18] It is available in an entry-level version and the more advanced Intuos Pro.[19] In 2018, The Verge called the entry-level models a "great introduction to digital art."[20]
One
The One series of products is targeted at beginners, and features versions both with and without screens.[21][11] The One tablet, released at CES 2020, has a 13-inch, 1920x1080 display. The Verge labeled it as Wacom's "most affordable tablet to date," being priced at $400.[22]
Other products
Wacom also makes the MobileStudio, a pen display with an inbuilt computer.[17]
They have also made other lines of graphics tablets, such as the Bamboo and Graphire, which were both screenless.[14][23] In 2011, the company released a tablet-less pen, which allowed for drawing on any piece of paper, but was criticized for being inaccurate compared to a normal photo scan.[24][25] In 2018, they partnered with Magic Leap to create collaborative mixed reality design tools at CES.[26]
Technology
The tablets use electromagnetic resonance (EMR) technology, a type of faint radio signal.[27][28][29] Magnetic waves are emitted from the tablet, which are then transmitted to the pen and stored. When the pen is released, the waves are sent back to the tablet, which uses it to determine the pen's position;[10][30] this avoids the usage of separate batteries in the pen.[12] The pen also contains a movable tip, which allows determining the pressure applied to the tablet.[29][31]
Criticism
Wacom has been criticized for the high cost of their professional displays.[32][improper synthesis?] The company has also received criticism for collection of user data,[33] which Wacom says is "for quality assurance and development purposes," where the data is anonymized.[34]
In early 2024, the company was criticised by artists for using AI-generated images in its advertising material.[35] The company replied in a post on their blogs on January 9, stating that "using AI-Generated images in these assets was not their intent.''[36]
^ abSholin, Marilyn (2009). The Art of Digital Photo Painting: Using Popular Software to Create Masterpieces (1st ed.). New York: Lark Books. pp. 11–12. ISBN978-1-60059-101-3. OCLC213301758.
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