Deformable Paint Palette: Actuated Force Controls for Digital Painting.

This work-in-progress presents early findings on using deformable interfaces with force input to enhance interactions with digital painting applications. Our prototype uses deformation to submerge controls to represent paint pots, and emerge controls to represent nibs. These controls can then be pressed or squeezed to change the colour or size used for painting. Our preliminary study evaluates the prototype against a tablet. Early findings show participants were quicker and more accurate using the tablet, and found mapping of their input force to response unclear when using the prototype. Despite this, participants enjoyed using the deformable interface, stating that tangibility was useful for the use experience. We report these results and offer suggestions for improvement of the deformable interface.