If Apple’s newly published patent application by the United States Patent and Trademark Office is to be believed, then the company is working on a new technology for the Apple Pencil that could enable the device to sample real-world colors.
The patent application from Apple is titled “Computer System With Color Sampling Stylus” and it describes a scenario where the Apple Pencil can sensor or detect real-life colors that can then be used in digital arts, drawings, edits, and more.
Apart from drawings, the color sensor can also be used for other purposes, such as calibrating displays, calibrating printers, making health-related measurements, and identifying paint colors for home projects.
As for the design, the patent describes Apple Pencil or a Stylus device having a design with an elongated body, a tip, and an opposing end, where the tip will be able to work with a touch-sensitive display. The color sensor functionality could be located at the end of the stylus, at the tip, or coupled to the tip through a light source.
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The company says that the color sensor may have more than one photodetectors each of which measures light for a different respective color channel. It may also come with one or more light-emitting devices to illuminate an external object to determine the color.
Do note that most companies patent all kinds of technologies and designs even though they have no plans of launching the same commercially. Since most patents for technology don’t make it to the market, it remains to be seen if this color-sensing Apple Pencil sees the light of the day anytime soon.
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