This week’s Web 2.0 Weekly takes a look at a tool designed to allow you and two of your friends to collaborate in creating an artistic masterpiece.  The tool in question is General Electric’s (yup, that General Electric) Imagination Cubed.  At first glance, Imagination Cubed doesn’t look all that different from any sort of basic drawing program until you see the “Invite a Friend” tools in the upper corner of the drawing area.  Selecting those prompts you to enter a friend’s email address and sends an invitation to have them join you in creating your artwork.  If they accept the invitation, a new pen will appear on the digital canvas and you can work on it together.  A basic chat tool is also provided.

Strengths:

• Wide selection of drawing tools (pens, stamps, shapes, lines, and text in addition several canvas options)
• Minimal system requirements (Intel PIII with Windows 98 or better on the PC side; G4 with OS X 10.2 or better on Mac side.  Flash Player 6 or higher for both.)
• Collaborative drawing!!!

Weaknesses:

• The boundaries of the “canvas” are not visibly marked.  Any changes you make to the background will fill the browser window, but drawing tools work only in a subset of that area.
• Can’t upload your own background images.
• No ability to export drawings (see below).
• Collaboration didn’t work for me (see below).

First, let me say that I think Imagination Cubed is an awesome Web 2.0 app.  You might not create the next Mona Lisa but the drawing options are fun and easy to use.  I did find two major issues with Imagination Cubed, though.

I discovered this app lacks any ability to export your creation to your own computer.  You are given the option to “save” it or to “send” it to a friend, but what actually happens is that you (or your friend) receive an email with a link to your drawing.  Interestingly, this isn’t a static image of your drawing, but an actual animation that shows it being created just as you originally drew it (cool in itself).  The animation can be paused at any time and you can begin drawing again from that point.

The larger problem I encountered while testing the collaboration feature.  To test this, I sent an email invitation to myself, opened it on my MacBook, and clicked the enclosed link.  After a few seconds, a second pen appeared on the drawing, and I was able to make additions from the MacBook.  However, I immediately lost the ability to draw from the original computer.  The pen (or any other drawing tool) would not move or draw.  I was able to send chat messages from each computer, so I know I had connectivity.  I’m not sure if the problem was due to something on my network or if it was intrinsic to Imagination Cubed.  If you are planning to use this app in class, make sure to test it in advance.

Imagination Cubed is free to use and has very minimal system requirements (see above).  This would be a great app to use in an art lesson, or even a lesson teaching about shapes and colors.  You will need at least a DSL connection to make use of it.