Apple Pencil May Sample Colors From The Real World, New Patent Shows

Last week, Apple filed a new patent that describes a future Apple Pencil that can sample colors from real-world objects by integrating a color sensor into the computer stylus.

The color sensor would house photodetectors to measure light from various color channels. This way, it would be able to sample a color from an object in the real world and recreate the color. The tech giant added that the color sensor functionality could either be at the stylus’ tip or coupled to the tip via a light guide. The patent reads:

“The color sensor may have a plurality of photodetectors each of which measures light for a different respective color channel. The color sensor may also have one or more light-emitting devices. The control circuitry may use the light-emitting devices to illuminate an external object while using the photodetectors to measure reflected light to determine the color of the external object.”

With this technology, people will easily point the tip of the Apple Pencil onto a random object and its color will be transferred to the color palette in the drawing software. Users can then apply the color to a brush.

According to Apple, the color sensor could come in handy in other situations like calibrating printers and displays or making heath measurements. Currently, the iPhone maker can already sample colors from the computer so doing the same thing from the real world sounds plausible enough.

The only thing to wonder is whether it will actually work on this technology and bring it to life, or the patent will just become history like many others. But if it does come true, the technology will bring creative work to a whole new level.

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