Ten One Design Demos Pressure-Sensitive iPad Drawing

Ten One Design has developed some interesting software to simulate a pressure-sensitive screen on the iPad. The app works by measuring distance between the touch screen and a capacitive tip such as that found on the Pogo Sketch stylus.

In this demo video, different line widths are drawn by the same stylus, while finger and hand touches are masked out. This makes it possible to write on the iPad just like a notebook, even while resting your hand on the screen.

Right now the software collects screen input data using a private function call, so Apple would not allow the program into the AppStore under current rules. Ten One Design hopes to release this capability as a free software library with permission from Apple.

The UIKit framework could be updated to include the necessary information, making it possible for any iPad developers to make simulated pressure-sensitive apps. Ten One Design warns that lag seen in the demo video is an issue with the demo app code, not a limitation of the iPad or the pressure-sensitive library.

If Apple lets this third-party innovation see the light of day, iPads could prove even more functional with the right apps and a decent stylus in hand. Handwriting recognition software already exists, and in combination with the iPad touch screen we can imagine many new uses for the device.