I/O Brush: The World as the Palette — AT first I thought this was another over-hyped dead-end idea from MIT. But it may be a fun tool, for, uh, something!

I/O Brush is a new drawing tool to explore colors, textures, and movements found in everyday materials by “picking up” and drawing with them. I/O Brush looks like a regular physical paintbrush but has a small video camera with lights and touch sensors embedded inside. Outside of the drawing canvas, the brush can pick up color, texture, and movement of a brushed surface. On the canvas, artists can draw with the special “ink” they just picked up from their immediate environment.

found by Tom Kinsella