Press the pen’s sensor against an object, the pen’s ink becomes that color. Scan an orange, you are drawing in orange. Scan a blade of grass, you’re drawing in a rich shade of green.
The pen uses a 16-bit color sensor on one end, and ink jet color mixing on the other end to reproduce about 100,000 colors. The company is releasing two products: a pen for drawing and a stylus for your mobile device. The scanner uses bluetooth, so you can save and label your scanned colors.
Fantastic idea. Note that this is a kickstarter, available for pre-order and not a shipping product. While the pricing for the pen (US$149.95) and stylus (US$79.95) are set, there is no mention of the pricing for replacement ink. Can I replace one color, or do I need to replace the whole thing once I run out of a single color?
Looking forward to trying one myself.
I would like to see an iPad stylus that has that sensor, so you can pick up a color from a real-world object and paint with it on the iPad. (Of course you can do this by taking a photo of a real world object and sampling that color digitally within your drawing app, but that is an extra step.) The inkjet part of this looks like a bug to me.
Does make me wonder how the “inkjet” lets you “write”.
By which I mean, how does it handle changing colors? How much do you waste to clear out the old color?
How’s the feel? Clogging? Intensity and durability of the ink stream?
Color me skeptical.
(Though at least none of the things promised are impossible or even implausibly difficult!
Also, maybe it’s just my really big 2440 monitor, but is their art kinda low-quality and pixelated?
That’s not encouraging.)
Replacement ink is indeed an interesting factor. I assume the formulation will have to be specific for this hardware in some way.
Under the FAQ’s
How long would the ink last?
Scribble has been meticulously designed with ink management in mind.
Your ink will last a long time, up to several months depending on your
usage.
Where do I purchase new ink?
You may purchase a new ink cartridge via our website, or by placing
an order for a refill in the Scribble app on your mobile device.
Would I be able to recharge just one of the colors or would I have to buy all of them at once?
Yes, you will be able to replace a single color. In fact, replacing a
single ink color is extremely easy, way easier than replacing your
regular printer’s ink cartridge. To make it even simpler for you,
Scribble provides a series of instructional videos that will help you
replace your ink cartridge in no time.