Apple has just filed a patent for the Apple pencil that will soon be able to sample colors from real-world surfaces. It will then be able to copy the colors to draw on iPads that have support for the pencil. This will be able to give artists and designers the ability to access a wider color palette. This will be done by Apple including a new sensor built into the Apple pencil.
Images in the patent show the Apple Pencil may come with a built-in light ambient sensor, light emitter, and a light detector that can detect the color and texture of a surface. It can then copy the color right into the pencil and then use these colors in drawing apps.
I believe Apple will do this in their upcoming pencil. It will be a boon for artists or game designers who need to create textures from surfaces. Right now, the way artists normally create textures is to take photographs of them and digitize them. Being able to create textures with just a pencil and a bunch of sensors would be a game changer.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
