Handwriting has always been a distinctly human feature. When archaeologists walk into a cave and see the creative use of ink in a distinct pattern, they never say, “What would these animals think of next?” Instead, they immediately take that as a sign of human civilization and activity.
Seeing a handwritten letter makes us much more likely to open it and read the contents. So, it’s no surprise that marketers and other direct mail copy enthusiasts handwriting in their campaigns.
But we’ve only got 24 hours in a day, and these guys need to send out thousands of letters within a short window to meet their goals.
Queue handwriting robots.
These robots can create customized letters in a fraction of the time, so you don’t have to spend day upon day writing letters. People call this innovation a lifesaver because the alternative would easily have taken up so much more time that could be used doing other stuff.
If you simply have to write to a handful of family members and friends each year, then you probably have no need for an innovation like this. However, if your job requires you to pen out hundreds or thousands of letters within a week, you may be relieved to find that your job can be a lot easier than you think, thanks to these robots.
Here is a list of these robots for you to choose from:
Axidraw
This handwriting robot was born out of pure need; its creators relied on direct mail to grow their business and needed a faster, more efficient way of getting that work done.
To ensure a human touch, this machine uses a pen rather than a printer to write, and comes with 3D printers and laser cutters, controlled by a Raspberry Pi laptop.
Whether you need simple letters or require more elaborate plotting, this machine is designed to meet your need, even if you’ve never used robot handwriting machines before.
Hemingway
The idea of a robot copying your face during a robot apocalypse is nothing new in Hollywood and our collective unconscious. It’s a bit of a cliche. However, have you ever seen a robot that copies your handwriting?
That’s what Hemingway has been impressing users with for a few years now.
Hemingway is a robot created by The Handwriting Company that can create elaborately “handwritten” communication. It can mimic anybody’s handwriting, and all it needs to is a sample of your handwriting.
This machine writes faster than a human–much faster. In one exhibition, it took only 2 minutes to complete a piece of writing that took its human counterpart 15 minutes.
If you’re looking to emphasize a distinctive touch in your handwritten communication, you can do no better than Hemingway.
Audience Robots
Audience is a Miami startup that aims to change the mass-marketing landscape using handwritten notes personalized by robots. Their robots are making such a convincing impact that they recently completed a $10 million series A funding round.
The funding is meant to improve customer relationship management, enhance user experience, and increase the number of their robots, so you can be sure that this tech is going nowhere in the foreseeable future.
If you’re a marketer who is disillusioned by email campaigns and would like to run campaigns that leave the sort of mark only handwritten notes can leave, then you would want to take a closer look at what this startup is doing.
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