Submission by Beatriz Vizcaino, Derek Chan, & Russell Maschmeyer (SVA MFA in Interaction Design, Class of 2011)
The Sensual Experience
One of the primary objectives we wished to address with our device was to maintain the material characteristics of paper books. Flexibility and durability are important facets of paper books that we wished to replicate, and although not all characteristics can be completely translated digitally, we sought to focus our efforts on the ones we deemed to create the most experiential and emotional attachment.
Our device is made of a flexible paper-like silicone. At it’s largest, it measures 11 x 17 inches, but the ability for it to be folded means it can shrink to the size of a typical paperback novel. The decision to leverage flexibility in this case was to humanize digital hardware, in the sense that this device should not be perceived as precious, and is completely at the mercy of its owner and however they wish to use it.
The device reads newspaper content perfectly at its full size but can be turned 90° clockwise to create a book-like experience similar to that of an average non-fiction reference book. The device can be folded to emulate the experience of reading a novel-sized book. At any point during the reading experience, users may unfold or fold the device to the size they are comfortable with in the context of their environment.
Like with paper books, the material used for the device is also highly durable, and can even show signs of wear and tear over time if not kept in optimal conditions. This however will not hinder the operation of the device and becomes a personal characteristic that is shared between owner and device.
The next key characteristic of reading paper books we wished to address is the act of turning pages. Because our device does not include actual paper pages, content is digitized on the device’s panels. Page turning is accomplished through a gestural interaction similar to that of turning physical pages. A swipe of the reader’s finger(s) over the top or bottom edge of the reading panes will cause the pages to turn. The act of page turning is further reinforced graphically as it occurs. Readers may turn pages in either direction and in any variation of speed.
The computer on the device can also make use of a reference/dictionary component that helps readers understand what they are reading on the fly if they choose to use it.
Reading and its Social Contexts
To many, reading is a social event and can be described as such through a variety of activities. One of the key advantages to storing reading content digitally is the ease of wide-spread content proliferation. However, like owning a book, a book owner can not and should not be able to just lend their book(s) to multiple people at the same time. We felt that rules needed to be established to maintain the book lending/borrowing paradigm. With our device, users may lend a book to their friends but in doing so, the content effectively leaves their device until the borrower returns their book to them by re-sending the content back to the original device. Using the device’s computer, however, the owner, may impart a set of parameters on the book they are lending. For example, they may set a time limit for which the book automatically returns to the owner when it expires. Another parameter would be whether the owner wishes to show their personal markings on the book or to hide them when the book is being borrowed.
Because of the flexible nature of the device, the experience of reading to children can also be enhanced by unfolding the device to larger sizes to show pictures or even to allow children to read with their parents in a size that is viewable by everyone. These are just some examples of the social considerations we’ve taken into account.
The Rituals of Reading
How we engaged this topic was thinking about how our device could hinder certain rituals of reading. We felt that our device did not negatively impact any particular ritual of reading.
For example, our device is adaptable to many environments and circumstances, such as reading on transit. Where stops are frequent, the device includes a bookmarking feature that can be enabled by the reader. A circling gesture of the page number engages this feature, and when the book is tucked away, the position of the book is saved for the next time they decide to pull out the device to read.
When reading before they go to sleep, the flexible nature of the device along with its ability to fold down to the size of a novel helps readers feel at comfort with their reading material.
The Reading Ecosystem
Institutions that carry physical books need to be re-evaluated in order to support our device. This, however, does not necessarily need to be a huge overhaul. For instance, libraries should continue to house physical paper books but also contain terminals where device-owning users can search for and download library materials to their device. Once downloaded, they may continue to check-out the book with their library card and proceed to take the books out. Once the due date has been reached, the books will automatically be removed from their devices, unless they chose to renew.
Another cross-industry component would be the inclusion of sound in the books that can be downloaded. The music industry has the opportunity to create music with their books that get downloaded with the reading material. While reading, users may choose to turn on the book’s music to help enhance their reading experience. This provides a huge market opportunity for the music industry that could transform how people read.
