14 DAY TRIAL // Apple is considering a massive upgrade for Apple Pencil, as the company has recently filed a patent for new technology that allows the stylus to sample colors from real objects.
That’s right, thanks to sensors integrated into the Pencil, the device would be able to capture colors from real life, eventually transferring them to the screen of an iPad.
It’s not hard to figure out who’d benefit from this breaking piece of technology, as graphic designers would be able to reproduce real colors more accurately.
As noted by PatentlyApple, however, the whole thing is just a patent for now, so while Apple’s idea could work, especially because it relies on sensors that are integrated into the Pencil, including directly into the tip, it may take a while until the feature starts rolling out.
In the patent documents, Apple explains that the one responsible for the whole magic is a color sensor built into the Apple Pencil.
“A device such as a stylus may have a color sensor. The color sensor may have a color sensing light detector having a plurality of photodetectors each of which measures light for a different respective color channel. The color sensor may also have a light emitter. The light emitter may have an adjustable light spectrum,” the company explains.
“The light spectrum may be adjusted during color sensing measurements using information such as ambient light color measurements made with a color ambient light sensor that has a plurality of photodetectors each of which measures light for a different respective color channel. An inertial measurement unit may be used to measure the angular orientation between the stylus and an external object during color measurements. Arrangements in which the light emitter is modulated during color sensing may also be used. Measurements from the stylus may be transmitted wirelessly to external equipment.”