Matt Fox-Wilson of Ambient Design wrote software for desktop computers before making the move into the world of mobile apps. Unlike other developers, who bang out a succession of apps in the hope there will be a hit among them, Fox-Wilson and his fellow company director, Andy Bearsley, have stuck with what they've always done.
"Our core principle is taking high-end graphics and making it available in a consumer form that anyone can use," says Fox-Wilson, who works from his home near Auckland's Bethells Beach. Ambient Design's main product - and sole iTunes App Store offering - is painting simulation program ArtRage.
"The thing that differentiates ArtRage is that as well as tracking colour on the canvas, we track the amount of paint - its wetness and how reflective it is - so that as you make a brush stroke, you'll see the paint thin out and the texture of the canvas come through. You can then paint another stroke over that and see the paint blend."
Apple's touch-sensitive iPad tablet is proving a natural medium for the software, Fox-Wilson says, since users can paint directly on the screen - not literally, but with a finger or stylus.
