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A new stylus seeking funding on YouTube employs a pressure-sensitive barrel that allows users to squeeze to fine-tune line thickness to razor precision.
(Credit: Jon Atherton)
A talented artist can do wonderful things with a touchscreen tablet and a good stylus — and one Brisbane-based developer wants to make it better yet.
Jon Atherton — creator of the AppTag “laser blaster” for mobile gaming and the Jaja and Nota styluses — has a new trick up his sleeve. Called the YuFu after Song Dynasty painter, poet and calligrapher Mi Fu, it’s a stylus that claims perfection.
“The YuFu is the world’s first ultra-fine pressure-sensitive stylus, and the world’s first stylus to include the sensors required for proper palm rejection and pen angle,” the Kickstarter project page says. “The YuFu is not just for artists, though; we are building a range of quality tools ideally suited to all digital writing and drawing tasks. But just as non-artists will enjoy using a perfect pencil, so too will they find enjoyment with the perfect stylus.”
There are three models of the stylus available: the YuFu basic; the YuFu Focus, with 64 levels of pressure sensitivity; and the YuFu Pro, with a massive 4048 levels of pressure sensitivity that can be calibrated to the individual user, a gyro sensor so that apps can gauge the pen angle, optional gestures such as double-tap or shake to undo and Bluetooth Low Energy. All styluses come with interchangeable tips, including a rubber tip and a brush tip that can be stored in the barrel, and the Focus and Pro also come with a 1.9-millimetre rubber tip.
The pressure sensor sits under the user’s finger on the barrel and allows the user to adjust line width and opacity just by squeezing. It’s powered by a single AAAA battery for a slim line and is housed within a machined metal body with a knurled grip for comfort.
It’s been in development since February, and Atherton brings all his experience with the Jaja and the Nota to bear, so we’d like to think it can deliver on its promises (in all honesty, AppTag was disappointing). You can reserve the YuFu basic model for a pledge of US$29 (RRP US$39), the YuFu focus for an early-bird pledge of US$49 (RRP US$79) and the YuFu Pro for a pledge of US$65 (RRP US$99), with an estimated delivery date of April next year.
Head over to the YuFu Kickstarter project page to check it out.
