The integration of media in publishing is a current key issue:
- Can delivery and receipt of digital information be improved, making the impact richer and livelier with a high degree of interactivity and contextual information, and making access simpler for users?
- Can such integration generate new revenue streams, or improve current revenues, for publishers?
Augmented Reality (AR) is a technology that can accommodate real-time blending of the two, providing added value to what is possible with paper and digital content working in isolation from each other. Information that is implicitly associated with a printed context is made directly and immediately accessible by means of an AR interface such as a smart phone or tablet. Virtual elements are overlaid and integrated into a printed book, journal or article by means of printing visually recognizable icons, complemented with a custom developed app that can be easily downloaded into one’s mobile device.The goals of AR in the publishing sector are numerous:
- Explore new sources of revenue via “subscriptions, advertising and value added content”.
- Increase the number of copies sold and/or the output of current volumes
- Increase the quantity and types of information available in a simple and enjoyable manner
- Increase the level of engagement by readers
- Improve the learning and retention performance of readers
- Improve readers’ loyalty with converging products that are more in line with current trends and readers’ needs
- Reach larger audiences
- Leverage the global tendency towards the creation of cross-media solutions allowing users to choose to access content from print, e-book and mobile devices
This 30-minute hands-on session will present case studies of AR as well as explore scenarios for Augmented Reality Books, and demonstrate how AR can provide significant new cultural and commercial value to print by overlaying easily accessed digital supplements.