Five years ago it was an mind-boggling design concept,
but today the idea color-changing pen has morphed into a working
prototype that draws colors from objects and surfaces, natural or
artificial, then lets you use them in all kinds of creative ways. This
real-world version can make over 16,000,000 different tones and store over 100,000 unique colors in its memory.
Imagine the possibilities of Scribble,
both artistic and practical: instead of trying to mix just the right
paints to capture a landscape or replicate a color scheme for your
interior remodel, you can scan the actual colors of environments and use
those. Users can then upload, store, tag and share their color picks
for future applications.
The Color Picker
by Jinsun Park (shown below) was a purely conceptual design model at
the time, but operated on the same principle (like the Photoshop
eyedropper tool), made to contain a series of inks that (much like a
printer) would mix in the appropriate amounts, reproducing colors
scanned into it. This new variant on the device also converts the colors
into other formats (like binary, decimal and hexadecimal) that can be
saved and deployed for digital art. And with cartridge refills, you will
never need to buy another color of pen.
The applications are myriad: “For the colour blind, kids,
interior decorators, homeowners, teachers, artists, photographers,
designers and students, the Scribble colour picker pen will make copying
an exact colour, any colour from any object, an absolute breeze. With
Scribble you can scan, match or compare colours, draw on paper or your
mobile device.” Of course, you don’t have to scan in a new color –
you can always mix your own on the computer and input that preferred
tone too.
Here is the executive summary from the company: “Scribble
is the first coloring device of its kind that can take the world of
color around you and transfer it directly to either paper or your
favourite mobile device. Simple hold the Scribble’s scanner up to any
color, like on a wall, a book or magazine, a painting or even a child’s
toy and within a second or two that color is stored in Scribble’s
internal memory. You can now instantly draw on paper with the Scribble
Ink Pen or draw on a digital device like an iPad or Wacom Tablet with
the Scribble Stylus Pen.”
