There is a new paintbrush coming for the iPad, iPhone, and Ipod touch. Kickstart want you to know it’s the Flow. Art on the iPad or other capacitive devices can be difficult due to the fact that interaction with it doesn’t really feel like drawing or painting. You can finger-paint, basically, or use a stylus to draw, and either way there’s a disconnect. The Flow isn’t going to change that, but it does provide a way for you to actually use a paintbrush on a touchscreen, more or less the way a paintbrush is supposed to work.
It’s basically a lot of current-carrying fibers packed in with normal brush bristles, allowing the brush to be used on any capacitive touchscreen, be it Apple, Android, HP, or what have you. The trouble with this approach is simply that touchscreen software usually just reduces touches to points or circles; it’s not registering a hundred tiny fibers, or even the irregular aggregate brush shape, any more than it’s registering your fingerprint when you touch it normally. Furthermore, capacitive screens are digital and don’t register pressure, so you can’t make a “light” stroke. It’s just taking the shape of the brush and estimating a shape out of it — so technically speaking, it’s not much better than a stylus or finger. It is promising though. I like the idea. I hope these guys do good for themselves. I am ready to order. Are you ready?
