1HDC 09.09 - The Future of Digital Reading - Submissions


Revolutionary (and Snazzy) Book Sharing Interface

Visually browse your electronic bookshelf or check out your buddy’s through an online social book network. With our interface, you can share your collection with friends and add books to group pools. Friends make a request to borrow a book but it is up to you to accept or reject the request. If you let them borrow a book, you may specify the duration of the loan (or not) and track their progress through the book (so you can bug them if they aren’t reading it).

One catch:

When your friend borrows a book that book becomes unavailable to you. You can forcibly snatch your book back only after two “polite” return requests via the interface or once the book is “past due.”

Scribbles

With included stylus you can scribble notes all over the margins of your book. The display of notes can be toggled on/off without loss of data. Friends that are borrowing your book are unable to toggle your scribbles/notes. They may add their own notes and toggle as usual, but they are stuck with yours (like a real book!). Upon return of your book, their notes can be toggled on/off. Just imagine the potential layers of literary discourse to be held within these shared books…

Conceived by Michael Hages + James Killinger

This is the Earjections earbud. It projects the readers infomation infront of them for easy viewing anywhere. Pages turn or flip just like the type media would if it where in front of you. Enjoy clutter free reading anywhere at anytime. It works off the bluetooth attached to your favorite cell phone, PDA, or moblie device. The small projector produces a powerful holographic image that automatically adjusts to light levels. Safe and smart for all ages.

This is our project

The Quarto.

“Quarto (abbreviated 4to or 4°) is a technical term describing the format of a book, which refers to the size of leaves produced from folding a full sheet of paper on which multiple pages of text were printed to form the individual sections (or gatherings) of a book.” - Wikipedia

25 Pages = 50 Front and back
OLED Cover Flow front and back cover
OLED and touch panal screens on all pages
Accelerometer to flip book and continue reading. FLIP AND GO
sound headphones hdmi with video
3d glasses using new barcodes and camera
3 sizes: small, Quire, medium, Lexicon, large, Opus
Libray/Book Store
RF BLUETOOTH WIRELESS = social aspect
rent borrow buy using and iTunes like store
battery- usb charging and wireless place mat charging .






Nicole Zigmont
Brian James Simmons
Ryan Ramplin
Alex Pytlarz

Jeff Barberio and Juliet LaDieu
Carnegie Mellon University
BookPlus Digital Reader

Look and Feel
In developing our design, we analyzed many aspects of the book reading experience that make reading enjoyable. The first aspect that is an important part of the book reading process is to have some way to see how far into the book a reader may be. Therefore, our design incorporates a 4 LED indicator that allows the user to see how close they are to completion in 25% increments. Next, our design considered the look and feel of a book. Different cases or skins can be attached to the reader to allow for customization. Cases featuring popular characters, such as Harry Potter or Spiderman, would be available for purchase and would attach to the reader via Velcro. The reader will be sent with a default plain leather cover. Finally, the screen for our design would try to emulate a book by being a softer white-yellow color typical of a book page with an anti-glare coating for outdoor use.

Functionality
While developing our design, there were numerous features that we felt were essential to making the investment in a digital reader worthwhile. The functionality is broken up into three categories: social collaboration, internet tools, and display features.
For social collaboration, our reader will feature a Collaboration Dashboard where friends can save their favorite quotes and send them to a friend’s Dashboard. New messages will be sent to the device once it is turned on. Also, the Dashboard can save the reader’s comments about different paragraphs or characters and share them with others. The user can bring up a list of groups that are reading the same book and then ask for permission to join the group or to join the current discussion. The UI will show the number of members and how many are currently active. The collaboration is limited to people with BookPlus digital readers. The network is not accessible from the outside world. There is a soft keyboard similar to the iPhone for typing. Also, the author or publisher can sell a version of the book with embed links to a “hidden features” section containing thoughts from the author, the author’s bio, deleted chapters/text, revisions, or information about the characters and story locations in the book. The user can also buy a special edition of a book series and be able to link between the various books using characters or locations.
Our device would have internet access to enable multiple features. First, the user will have the ability to access the web for book reviews. In addition, our reader would allow for instant word lookup by providing access to an online dictionary and encyclopedia.
Finally, there are several display features that will enhance the reader experience. Here is the list of features:

• Stylus to write notes and highlight text
• One-button page flip
• Toolbar options – Clock, Chapter title, Page number, Estimated time to finish book
• Font options – user control for size, author/publisher to select style
• Bookmarks – allow user to place multiple bookmarks and flip back to them
• Beach-proof case sold separately
• Reader will save last page viewed by user and will restart at that page
• Day and Night settings for the screen to adjust for various light levels
• The text is searchable

The Lexi is a personal assistant that makes the reading process as easy as possible. Some of the features include:
-eye scanning technology to monitor your location in the text
-reads the words as your eye moves upon them
-text enlargement on the area of the text you are reading
-automatic text adjustment to aid your reading (larger font size or more leading when necessary)
-optical correction for sight impaired readers
-slide out page for a full spread view or one side for note taking
-touchscreen for highlighting text and turning pages
-stylus for drawing or note taking
-left-handed usability by flipping device upside down
-solar panel on the back to charge while you are not reading

Various sizes are available for the reader’s preference. Skins for different exteriors. Integrated with various online stores/publishers/magazines. Access to online blogs/e-zines/book reviews. Data base system for accessing libraries. Notifications when within close proximity of other users reading a book that you are also reading/have read/or is on your wish list. Sharing of materials with blue tooth.

Marketed towards:
children learning to read
readers with impaired sight
students (integrated with professors, note taking, and homework)
readers in book stores and libraries



Papyrus by Mike Chien and Will Constable
Our e-reader design is similar in size to the original Amazon Kindle but instead of an E-ink screen, it has a color touch-screen that will enable a more intuitive user interface. In addition, the cover is a flexible display that shows what the reader is currently reading. We focus on a streamlined and rich user experience, combining the advantages of wireless computing technology with the sensual and social aspects of reading physical books.

Home Page
As this device is made for reading books first, the home page for the device when turned on will be the users bookshelf. Images of the users books will be stacked, showing the bindings of their books, which conveys the sense of size, weight and perhaps density of the reading. A user would have the ability to scroll, sort and manage their bookshelf from this view.

Reading
One of the drawbacks to the Kindle reader we examined were the numerous buttons and the somewhat mechanical feeling to reading. We sought to mimic the sensation of turning paper and bookmarking pages through the use of a touchscreen interface.
• Turning pages: A swipe on the lower right or left corners would turn to the next or previous page.
• Bookmarking: A touch-and-drag motion in the upper right corner would create a bookmark for that location, mimicking folding a corner of a page.
Since this will also be a multimedia device, four dedicated buttons are located on the lower half of the screen and can be brought up with a simple tap on the screen. The four buttons are News, Online, Friends and Store.

News
This wifi enabled device will be able to pull current newspapers through a subscription service to any of the big multimedia enabled news outlets such as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and USA Today.

Online
A touch sensitive browser will enable users to access the Internet from wherever they are, allowing an infinite amount of content to be accessible from this device.

Friends
Social networking and the social aspects of reading are accessible through this button on the device. The initial page is a map of the users location along with where their friends are located. Their status, books they are currently reading and some of their favorite books are all listed when their icon is clicked on. In addition, any of the books that a user clicks on will bring the user to the Store where they can purchase it for themselves. Users can lend a book electronically to a friend, giving up access to it while their friend reads, and then later electronically returns it.

Store
The store for the Papyrus enables the user to purchase books through the online system, which will deliver it directly to the device. A short summary, professional reviews and user ratings are all included on the individual book page. One of the aspects of bookstore browsing we also wanted to keep was the ability to scroll through a bookshelf of similar books either by author, topic, genre, bestseller, etc. This will enable the customers to essentially “walk through” the online bookstore in case any titles, covers or authors stand out.

BY Steve Pecoraro, Jack Gold, Michael Pecoraro, Bryan Ricci, and Charlie Borrello
@
Rochester Institute of Technology

glyph

Take a book. Now take away the paper. Add dynamic-ink OLED displays, easy on the eyes and infinitely reusable. Add interactivity. Add social networking apps. Add the freedom to carry a library wherever you go, to turn reading into a group activity or keep it to yourself for a little escapism.

The end result is glyph.

Details are in the following images. Co-designers, if I’ve left anything out (or spelled any of your names wrong), shoot me an email and I’ll amend as necessary.
scan1.jpg


The OmniBook

Product:

The OmniBook itself has a fairly simple appearance, with only a capacitive multi-touch screen on the front for navigation, a headset jack, a power/hold button, a set of speakers, and USB and microUSB ports on the top and bottom. Framing the screen and the speakers on the bottom of the unit is a white plastic that has a slightly resistive texture, mimicking the look and feel of paper. The back of the unit has a battery cover plate that can be swapped out either patterns, pictures, textures or book covers in its place. The screen would be readable in even very bright sunlight, but would be able to display color (a famous example of this technology is the One Laptop Per Child XO-1 screen, developed by Pixel Qi).

Navigation through the OmniBook is entirely touch-based. On the book “level,” a one-finger swipe across the screen will turn a page. A single tap can also be used to select words or paragraphs, allowing the user to explore reference sources relating to that passage with the included dictionary, encyclopedia, and thesaurus. If the user is using a WiFi or WWAN capable model, they may also choose to browse the internet for that term, exploring various online resources for insight.

With two fingers, a swipe from right to left would reveal the “side” of the book the user is reading, with a marker showing where the user is currently. This is called the “ThumbThru Navigator.” By moving your finger up and down the “side” of the book, the user can rapidly traverse large sections of the text in a short amount of time. Like in regular textbooks, the author and user may choose to add their own section markings, and the ThumbThru Navigator would show bookmarks, flags and other annotations.

With a two-finger swipe from left to right would reveal the Annotations Toolbar. This is where the user can manage annotations they make, as well as view the annotations friends or peers make about the book, seeing what they “wrote in the margins.” This is also where the user would manage either personal or professional recordings of the book. The microphones built into the unit can pick up the user’s voice, allowing the user to record a reading, and then allow someone like their child to pick up and read along even when the user isn’t there.

Swiping with two fingers up and down navigates between the three levels: book, bookshelf, and bookstore. Bookshelf is where the user would navigate their book collection – what books they’ve read, what books they have, etc. The bookshelf is also where the user would manage their personal profile and preferences. The bookstore is where the user would purchase and receive new content and where they can connect with other readers and friends.

System:

The online bookstore is where most of the action takes place. In addition to allowing the user to explore, rate and purchase/receive content (books, audio books, newspapers, blogs, etc.), it’s a platform through which the user can interact with other users over the internet. The user can discuss books and topics through the provided forums, chat rooms, comment threads and so on. The user can also see friends’ profiles and bookshelves, see what they’re reading and talking about, and recommend/share books with them. The user can send books to other people, essentially transferring ownership to the other person, with as little as a tap or a mouse click. Another option is to read collaboratively with a group of users, if only one user owns the book itself. Together, the user group can highlight, chat, comment, and annotate the book all in real time; this could be especially useful for class projects or online book discussion groups (maybe even special book preview sessions with the actual author).

Kind of a mix between a library and Netflix, another option that an online platform could allow is an “all-access” pass to the online store’s collection. For a monthly or yearly fee, the user could download and read a certain number of books from the entire library every month. The user wouldn’t be able to transfer those books to other people, but they can certainly still recommend it to others, and the user could show others through connections with other mediums. For instance, the user could connect the OmniBook to a TV, creating a giant virtual bookshelf and e-reader, or the user could put it up on the computer screen to give their partner a clearer view.

This system could also work well in real bookstores, where people often use as up-to-date libraries (to the dismay of many bookstore managers). But imagine being able to walk into a Borders, “renting out” an OmniBook, and enjoying the ability to access the entirety of the Borders collection while sipping coffee in a giant bean-bag chair. This not only prevents the actual books from being damaged before being bought, it allows the user to try out the OmniBook before committing to own one.

Other ideas:

One of the main benefits of the OmniBook is that it is customizable and scalable. If the user doesn’t want an expensive, hyper-connected e-book reader, they could simply get the basic model of the OmniBook, nothing more than a portable reading device. If they want something that’s smaller or larger, models can be made to accommodate that as well. If they desire something that’s more technologically capable and interactive, however, they could go as far as getting a special folio/cover, that allows for two OmniBooks to be connected together at once. The folio could be made out of a variety of material, anywhere from leather to something more akin to an actual book (possibly even bringing the smell of books along with it). Not only does this mimic a book more accurately, it increases the reading area (they can sense when they are attached to the device), and allows for a higher level of interactivity and capability. For instance, the two units could interact to increase wireless signal strength or improve computing power. In a more physical way, the two units could provide a screen/keyboard setup for annotations and bookstore navigation, or the two units could fold over back-to-back to form a reading surface and cover, allowing other people to see what the person is reading (the cover could also change depending on the user’s progress through the book, e.g. different covers images at different events in the book; cover getting more worn over time). Even with this, there are still plenty of possibilities for accessories for the OmniBook units (a capacitive-touch-screen-capable stylus would be nice for highlighting and annotations for instance).

I think the right size book is sized like a mobile phone/iphone - possibly somewhat larger. It would slide out from underneath the phone and can be it’s own individual mobile book piece. I think a single column width of the newspaper on the iphone is a fairly comfortable viewing size for a book as well. It will have the touch screen where instead of flipping, it pages down and pages across depending on settings that an individual set to the piece. The detachable mobile book can go where the phone goes or be detached when at home for reading in bed.

Lillian


I just saw this competition thing 10min ago - sorry about the poor quality but I thought I’d add this real quick:

The ebook (on the side table) has a built in projector. The projector can be focused on any surface (e.g. the ceiling), and the projection area can be fixed in space by pressing a touch screen button. After that, the projection area stays fixed if the book itself moves as long as it is within viewing area of the book.

That way books and other reading materials can be read lying on the bed without having to adjust the body every 10minutes because limbs keep falling asleep. Book can be read together and discussed, annotations can be made by writing with gestures.
(the (non) ability to write notations seems to be the #1 lacking feature of the kindle for students).

The ebook also has solar cells to charge it.

Reading in bed is (by our brief and admittedly semi-formal survey) the most popular form of reading, but is uncomfortable to do for long. You want to lie down, with your head on your pillow. But then your book or document must be lifted continuously, or balanced up on its edge and supported. Or, you can lie on your stomach and prop up on your elbows. In either case, your arms often fall asleep or get tired. You can sit up, but that is not nearly as comfortable, especially over time.

How can the form of the book be improved by the digital age to make it more comfortable in the bed environment?

We suggest the Scroll, a book that curves, rolls over, props up, cuddles, and cushions the way regular people do.

The screen is flexible and thin, and can be curved for easy holding in reading in one hand. Or, it can be snapped on to its pillow base to support your page at just the right angle. The scroll becomes a comfortable, soothing accessory in your bed that enables the main goal of before-bed reading: leaving the cares of your world behind, and engaging in a story. You can fully relax and forget about shifting the book from hand to hand, or having your arms fall asleep before you do. Digital technology allows a for thin flexible screen, wireless sharing of books and comments, and more. Take a look at the attached prototype pictures and specifications.

Further, the pillow docking/charging station allows for a braod array of product accessories to go with any decor.

BOOKSTONE CONCEPT

The Bookstone concept embraces the now with a weather eye on the future. It provides a cultural bridge between the love of a good paper book and the speed and utility of digital data transfer. Much of the old tactile experience is present, with new and engaging additions that clearly signify this as the next logical step. Bookstones allow us access to the world’s library and the freedom to share not only our favorite books but our thoughts, as well.
FORM

The Bookstone concept is comprised of five distinct facets:

  1. Traditional hardcopy books, as we know and love them.
  2. Digital books (e-books), existing solely as data in the electronic medium.
  3. Digital reader unit (DRU), fully connected to the internet, cloud, and personal data devices. Capable of much more than simple reproduction of text. Designed to display e-books, bookstone content, web content, etc. Contains modest memory and computing capacity for basic features.
  4. Personal archive unit (PAU), a module designed to work with any digital reader. This unit expands the functionality of the base reader unit by adding iPod-like, open-ended capability. Enables use of apps and further leveraging of reader unit technology beyond the simple “book experience.”
  5. Bookstones, discrete units containing both read-only content (i.e. the book) and flash memory for user-interactive content (i.e. notes, highlights, hypertext links, audio/visual content, etc.). Content may only be accessed by plugging bookstone into reader unit or adapter dongle for other devices (such as a personal computer or netbook).

So how does this “bookstone” work, exactly?

People read all manner of different things: paperback novels, hardcover books, periodicals, textbooks – the list is nearly endless. Therefore, it would be impractical to assume that one DRU form factor would suit all reading experiences. Therefore, the bookstone concept integrates total freedom to choose your own DRU(s) to suit your own preferences. DRU’s could be the size of a pocket novel, bound in leather and attractive brass. They could be magazine- or newspaper-sized, shaped like a textbook, or even a small tablet as in the Kindle. They could be manufactured by any company, from any material, to suit any taste.

The DRU are designed to interface with both bookstones and personal archive units. The interface, much like USB or IDE connectors, would be standardized worldwide, thus allowing any bookstone or personal archive to be used with any DRU.

The PAU is a small device, designed to slip into a pocket. It may have a screen and/or controls to allow access to some basic functions, but the form factor must remain very small. Think of this as the “brain” of the bookstone concept. It contains all of your personal data, apps, digital books, notes, etc. It would be plugged into the DRU, via the appropriate dock, or into any other device with a suitable dongle. Any company may produce the PAU, thus opening up the field for innovation and consumer choice. The only constant would be the standardized data interface format. Publisher-provided e-book content would be sequestered from other data, preventing transfer, copying, or redistribution of the e-book.

Bookstones are small, durable units that contain fully-formatted digital books, likely along with other associated metadata such as reference links, video, study guides – the possibilities are endless. The bookstone also contains flash memory to enable users to store their own content on a given bookstone, such as layers of margin notes, highlights of book text, hypertext links to external content, etc. Thus each bookstone develops its own discrete history as it is used, sold, traded, and shared.

SENSUAL

When the paper book was invented, it quickly surpassed the scroll as the medium of choice for storing and disseminating text around the world. It is likely that some scholars and other users of scrolls preferred the “old way of doing things” and, perhaps, continued using and collecting scrolls for the rest of their natural lives. This in no way devalues the book as a technology, but does illuminate our current shift from the hardcopy book to a digital medium.

Some tactile changes are to be expected, and where we may lose many of the old tactile and sensual experiences we associate with books, the new paradigm will bring with it a host of other experiences that will, in time, hold the same associations for us with the pleasure of reading. Whereas before we may have loved the smell of paper pages, the crisp turn of the page, or the heavy solidity of a real book in our hands, we as a culture will in time come to love the haptic experiences of the bookstone concept as the old associations find new expression.

The vast variety of DRU form factors available enables users to completely personalize their reading experience. If the user is an “old-school” book lover, they may favor a personal DRU that closely resembles a book, with “bound” cover and screens with textured nano-coating resembling paper. Forward-looking users might embrace stainless steel tablets, or totally new form factors such as head-mounted laser displays or AR interfaces.

The bookstone itself might be thought of as the primary new addition to the sensual reading experience. For the purposes of this concept challenge it is assumed that the bookstone would be a small rounded stone, with pleasing weight and surface texture. It could just as easily be a stick, wedge, tab, or button – final standardization of the data interface architecture would ultimately dictate form factor constraints, but one need only look to the current market of USB “thumb drives” to see that endless variation is possible. Imagine lending a friend a handful of bookstones, or carrying a reading selection as a pocket of slick pebbles. Each book might have its own bookstone design, much like traditional books have cover art or are made with different materials. Distinct design allows for easy identification and selection of a particular bookstone from a collection. It would follow that collectors might have an array of different options, from the cheapest plastic disposables to fine editions made from high-end materials.

ECOSYSTEM

There will always be a market for the traditional printed word. Readers love books, and low-tech is sometimes the best for certain uses and situations. This said, the business of the bound book is changing swiftly. It is now possible to order, print, and ship books-on-demand, as opposed to the traditional publishing paradigm of large scale production runs. Brick-and-mortar booksellers are suffering as more and more readers turn to online sources for their reading materials.

The bookstone concept seeks to revitalize the ecosystem of the bookseller and provide comfortable niches in the market for online sellers, franchise sellers, and mom-and-pop stores. A typical book purchase might consist of any or all of the following:
• Traditional paper book – Buy a book, get the e-book free as an optional instant point-of-purchase download to your PAU. This allows a user to have the hard copy book and the electronic version, thus allowing the reader to annotate their copy within the bookstone system while keeping their hard copy pristine (or, of course, annotate and share the hard copy as is their preference).
• Bookstone – Buy a bookstone, get the e-book for free as an optional instant point-of-purchase download to their PAU. Since users are not able to redistribute or copy e-book content from the PAU, publishers do not lose revenue by providing the free e-book. Some bookstones might even contain entire collections or series of books for a higher price.
• E-book – The digital version of the book would be less expensive than the hard copy or the bookstone, could be purchased and downloaded online, and would automatically pre-qualify the user to purchase the hard copy and/or bookstone version later at a discounted price, should they change their mind. Users are able to delete e-books from their PAU when they are done reading them, if they choose to do so. This would generate further revenue from favorite titles and also provide a very distinct, real-world indicator of a title’s true popularity amongst the reading public.
• Full package – includes hard copy, bookstone, and e-book for a premium price. The ultimate collector experience! Allows total freedom to collect, annotate, share, and gift books.

By introducing modern, attractive products (bookstone, PAU, DRU) into the ecosystem of the book, consumers are driven back to the brick-and-mortar seller. Users will want to get a feel for DRU’s from different manufacturers, browse through books (hard copy or bookstone), and generally partake of the “bookstore experience” that the current e-book selling model does not facilitate.

SOCIAL

Readers of books often find ways to enhance their enjoyment or understanding of a book by discussing and sharing it with other readers. Some people collect books as a hobby, reference library, or in the course of their learning or business. Book clubs turn the act of reading into a directly social event, formalizing their discussions and enjoyment of their hobby. Many have incorporated modern technologies into this practice with blogs, forums, mailing lists, and social networking. Many readers simply share their books with friends or with other students, in the case of textbooks and reference materials. The bookstone concept not only encourages these practices to continue, but in fact adds infinite layers of meaning to all social interactions around the written word.

The bookstone concept enables users to annotate their own copies of a book (any format) and save/copy this “user-generated content” to a DRU. This saved content can then be shared, posted online, or otherwise disseminated. Multiple users can add content to a single bookstone, for example a textbook that passes through a number of students’ hands. Furthermore, user content could be shared and layered, so groups of readers might have running commentary and content accessible by the group while they are reading their own copies of a given title.

RITUAL

Variety in the DRU and PAU markets would allow consumers to tailor their reading experience to suit their own personal reading rituals. A typical reader might use small tablet-style DRU’s for interstitial reading during the workday or their commutes; a larger, periodical format DRU for at-home reading of magazines or newspapers, and a leather-bound DRU for their nightly before-bed reading. Children might use large-format, durable-design DRU’s for reading and learning. College students might have larger, multi-purpose DRU’s for homework and reference reading.

The bookstone plays a large part in the ritual of reading and book collection. Small, durable bookstones develop their own unique patina of age over time, and the user content stored within becomes a living legacy of the book’s path from hand to hand. User content available on the web would allow celebrities, authors, or prominent personalities to post their own notes and associated content, thus enriching the everyday reader’s appreciation of a book. Bookstones act as a connector between the static text of the book and the infinite universe of context surrounding that title.

The future of digital reading will be marked by the convenience of having books when and where you need them. These three scenarios might help you get an idea of it:


Paul wakes up early in the morning, given that his commuting trip to Manhattan is rather long, about an hour and twenty minutes. Groomed and dressed, he goes for a quick stop at the corner cafe, where he gets his usual cappuccino and the book he’s reading currently: On The Road by Jack Kerouac.

The book is a simple digit-ink book from the DBook service, pages made of that plastic resine that feels like papyrus in your hand. Cover is monotone with the book title delicately composed, giving it that dignifying air of an old book On The Road deserves after all these years. Coffe and book in hand, he waits for the train, and while en route, enjoys chapter 12 and the smooth java cup.

After one chapter and a half, two changes and finally the arrival at his subway station, he crosses and locates the DBook vending machine, where he deposits it, so as not to have to carry it around in the day. Later in the evening he’ll pick up another copy of the same book to entertain him on his trip back home, leaving it at the supermarket DBook box just in time for getting some exquisite pret-a-porter gourmet lamb chops for a simple and succulent dinner.

Paul is subscribed to DBooks by the month, allowing him to exchange as many DBooks as he wants and keeping up to six of them per month for his library.


Since his operation, Björn spends large amounts of time at his home in the outskirts of Reykjavyk, mostly alone with Perro, his black labrador. Thankfully he’s an avid reader, so he gives his mail subscription to DBook all the use he can. Reading a book in three or four days and mailing it back to receive the next one in his online list has become his favourite pastime.

He has long thought of buying the DBook Typesetter, that little device which will allow him to connect any DBook and download new book’s content to it (which adapts to the number of pages by modifying the layout, spacing and font while keeping the style of the book’s design), thus reducing the waiting time to a minimum, but Björn is so affectionate to receiving the short but passionately waited book in the mail, he is subscribed to 2 books at a time, and just can’t wait to check his mailbox every morning a book should be arriving!

He also enjoys the casual exchange of a book with the regular friend and odd faculty colleague that comes now and then to check on him and see how well he’s doing. Knowing he does not have to read the whole book, or even read it gives him an openness to try literature casually, a behaviour that has opened him many unknown doors to pieces and authors he wouldn’t have wondered into before. Now he feels he finally can try all the books in the world, “as long as they’re the good ones, of course!” he says, wittily.


Akio lives a fast paced life since he was relocated to his company’s Paris office. In order to catch up with the local culture and manners, he has subscribed to the pay-per-keep version of the DBook service. Now he can order any book he wants, have it ready the next minute downstairs in his favourite café and pick it up just after that stroll around Saint Germaine he longs to do every Saturday morning.

Just after arriving home, and with a hurried feeling, he settles in his comfortable sofa and attacks vehemently his new ‘possible’ acquisition; after a couple of chapters (even paragraphs in some cases) he knows if the book’s a keeper, but being anew to french literature and French language itself, those two chapters/paragraphs can take the best hours of that bucolic Saturday afternoon, so he has become very selective with the books he finish, and keeps, as his father taught him how to carefully groom a decent and beloved personal library. The ones that capture his fancy he’ll read, finish and archive in his bookshelves, letting the DBook service to know he’s keeping by sweeping the book in the buying scanner that is attached to the shelf, after what his account is deducted of the book’s price.

Knowing he can return any book he does not want to keep makes the all discovering experience the most pleasing, just like when he used to take out books form his local Public Library in Tokio. After all, French and his french tenure are no small task for him, but DBook helps in making it a joyous, relaxed experience.


As you can see, I envision the future of digital reading as a simple, flexible, social, ubiquitous service that will allow books to become more and more part of our lives, no matter at what pace we stroll or bolt around it, while letting the reading to adapt to our lives, conveniently and convincingly, bringing the joy of discovering new worlds in the books we read into anyone’s life.

Book reading developed over the course of human history imbuing it with a rich tradition and a diverse set of associated rituals, the bulk of which should be, at a minimum maintained, enhanced where appropriate, and replaced only when necessary or voluntary.

At present, there is a certain tension and even, contradiction between books and their digital counterparts wherein books, though relatively low-tech, are extremely feature-rich, while digital readers, as noted by Portigal, “privilege access to content while neglecting other essential aspects of this complete reading experience.”

My E(nhanced)-Book seeks to eliminate this tension, and instead remain in harmony as a natural and intuitive evolution of the reading experience. How? – By maintaining as much of the tradition and ritual of book reading as possible, while providing optional functionality to greatly broaden the reading experience.

Stripped down to its principle features, the E-Book is really the same as a printed book, only better…


E-BOOK TECHNOLOGY, A PLAY IN TWO PARTS

  1. “PAPER BACK”
    All about reading. Limited technology reinforces a “full disconnect.


    Technology
    – Flexible OLED Display – Zero glare, reduced energy consumption, storage versatility, and adjustable viewing area.

– Touch Sensitive – A must for robust reader control and interaction.

– Flexible Solar Cells – Easy on-the-go charging and enhanced sustainability.

– Solid State Hard Drive – Reduced energy consumption and easily stores large number of works.


User-Interface & Functionality
Just as readers interact with their books in their own unique way, so can readers define their interactions with the E-Book
– Gestures – E-Book comes pre-programmed to react to many traditional reading gestures such as swipe to turn pages, doggy ear to mark pages, circling text to “tag” it for later reference, open / close to reset pages & text, and margin scribbles for notes.

– Taps – E-Book also comes pre-programmed with a more modern tap & menu system common to many existing smart phones, digital readers, and computers.

– Furthermore, E-Book can also learn new user-defined gestures and its operating system is open-source allowing the tap & menu system to be reorganized as desired.

– Adaptive Technology – Similar to any printed medium, Paper Back is compatible with adaptive aids such as The Haptic Reader (http://www.idsa.org/IDEA2009/gallery/award_details.asp?ID=146)

– Sharing is achieved the old school way – by giving the Paper Back to another reader. (See Hard Cover for additional functionality).

– Additional Functions include a keyword search, adaptive recommendations based on content and tagging choices


Aesthetic
– Static Text – When sitting around not being read, Paper Back pages retain text exactly how it was left – just like regular printed books, with zero power drain (same as e-ink in current digital readers).

– Title Display – Backside of Paper Back has small OLED display showing a simple title page, similar to original manuscript standards.

– Visual Effects – E-Book software comes with pre-programmed visual effects to maintain the traditional experience of the printed book.
• User- / Vendor-Definable cover art, fonts, page color, and “texture” variations
• User- / Vendor-Definable Graphics – Ability to turn illustrations on/off; to change between full-color or B&W and between full detail or simplified line-rendering
• Visual Page Turn – Swipe gesture causes pages to actually “flip” visually across the Paper Back screen.
• Visual Aging – Cover art, fonts, page color and textures change over time.
• Page Shuffle – Ability to “shuffle” pages back & forth by bending edge b/t thumb & index finger.
• Landscape / Portrait Modes – Ability to change to single column of text in portrait mode (Book’s default mode is in landscape with two opposing pages of text. This rotation method is already the norm in popular smart-phone devices)
• Visual Reactivity to Light – Pages become brighter / darker depending on light source and reflectivity can be turned on/off if desired
• Version Stamp / Date Stamp / Special Release Stamp – Can be “hardwired” into book data for authenticity.
• Special Editions can contain special graphics, notes from author, gallery, or editor, etc.
• Folding the Paper Back back (against the “spine”) either a) reduces the screen to a pre-defined area (e.g. newspapers folded to do the crossword), b) maintains position & scale to mimic real-life folding (e.g. media like magazines & newspapers), c) maintains position & scale to mimic “impossible” folding (e.g. inflexible media like a printed book), or d) reduces text for a smaller reading area.
• Gift / Inscription page – Can be added for further user customization.


Physical Customization
– Paper Back comes in different sizes to mimic traditional printed media such as magazines and newspapers.

– Paper Back can also come in limited editions that duplicate existing paper back covers currently in print. This replaces the small OLED display for the title page and the cover remains completely static.



2) “HARD COVER”
The hard cover “home” that Paper Back nests in; Provides additional hardware and customization to further maintain the printed book aesthetic and sensual experience and enhance the overall ritual.

Technology
– Wireless (802.11n)
• Download content from any provider offering relevant E-Book content or access reference materials (dictionary, thesaurus, encyclopedia)
• Upload content / data / notes / statuses to social networks (Twitter, Facebook, Book Reviews, Book Club)
• Enables sharing between readers and their E-Books
• Defaults in “airplane mode” for uninterrupted reading on planes (unless downloading content or accessing supplementary data)
• DOES NOT allow access to email, data pop-ups via PUSH technology, or any other externally driven distractions
• To encourage sharing, some book content with an associated cost for download, can be accessed for free at any library equipped with a wireless connection and the proper software.
• Sync across multiple readers or other associated technology

– Microphone
• Dictation
• Live or recorded oral exchanges

– Speakers
• Allows the Hard Cover to replicate traditional book sounds such as the spine crack, page turn, page shuffle, scritch-scritch of pencil when annotating, page crumple, “tear”
• Text-to-speech
• Play reference sounds (e.g. examples from nature, pronunciations, etc.), music clips, author / editor commentary, etc.

– Camera
• Video Conferencing
• Record social interactions such as reader-audience story time

– Solid State Hard Drive – For additional storage.

– Solar Cells – Larger array for fast Paper Back charging and increased reading time when nested.

– Wireless Charging – For backup power source for prolonged indoor use or lack of sun

– Writing Tool Strap – For holding writing implements for interface & note taking.


User-Interface & Functionality
– Because Paper Back nests within the Hard Cover, the Hard Cover maintains all of its functionality

– Cross-Platform Sharing
• Hard Cover hardware is designed to be compatible with popular existing technology such as TV’s, monitors, printers, sound systems, and of course computers. All data transfer is via a wireless connection.
• Content can be shared between readers and their E-Books via proprietary gestures “Tear & Share”, “Grab & Give”, or “Tap to Transfer”
• Content is also is formatted for easy sharing even if other user doesn’t have their own E-Book

– Adaptive Technology – Additional hardware (wireless, mic, speakers, & camera) augment Paper Back’s adaptive functionality enabling a larger range of interaction through more complex systems such as visual control (e.g. ERICA), speech control, audio feedback & indication, a live or recorded reader-audience experience across any distance, and more.


Physical Customization
– Comes “jacketed” with traditional cardboard & cloth

– Other jacket options include leather, fabric, other colors of traditional board + laminate, wood, plastic shell, etc. to meet user preference.

– Optional “live” jacket replaces the outside facing jacket surface with another full-size screen allowing for the same double-sided viewing conducive to simultaneous reading by multiple readers or reader-audience story time.

– All jackets increase weather- & wear-resistance to further enhance portability and durability for flexible placement (store, car, gym bag, purse, bookstore, coffee shop, as well as the bathroom, workroom, floor, fridge, shelf, indoors, outdoors, wet grass, etc.

What is Flyleaf? … A database of books, available directly at your finger
tips! Choose a book from the bookstore, library or internet and download
it directly to your Flyleaf in seconds! With Flyleaf your browsing
experience doesn’t change, only your viewing!

BOOKSTORE:


Step 1: Go to one of our partnership stores
Barnes & Noble or Borders

Step 2: Browse any book collection

Step 3: Your Flyleaf will automatically connect with the
bookstore network you are in.
All books located in bookstore are registered in
the Flyleaf database unless otherwise noted.
.
Step4: After you have chosen your desired book(s).
begin either typing title of book, or author onto the
main screen of your Flyleaf and select your book!

Step 5: Clike download!

Step 6: Enjoy!


ONLINE

Step 1: Go to http://www.flyleaf.com and begin searching
our large database of books.

Step 2: Search our book collection by title, author or
genre and read the synopsis and up to 10 sample
pages from any book.


Step 3: Select the book or books you would like to
purchase.

Step4: If you do not have a wireless network, make
sure your Flyleaf is connected using it’s USB
cord.

Step 5: Click download!

Step4: Begin reading your chosen book from the
comfort of anywhere!


LIBRARY

Step 1: Log onto library’s catalog search engine

Step 2: Classify your search by clicking the
“Books on Flyleaf” button

Step 3: Begin searching the Books on Flyleaf catalog.
Note: all books in the library available on
Flyleaf are marked with a Flyleaf sticker

Step 4: Take you selected book ot the check out counter

Step 5: The clerk will take your Flyleaf reader
and download the book directly onto your
Flyleaf.

SPECIAL FEATURES
Sharing:


Share each of your books with up to 5 people!
There is no limit on the number of books you can share!

Browse the Flyleaf network to find your friends using Flyleaf
and send them a link to download your book!

A notification will automatically be sent to their Flyleaf as well
as email account.

Once you know your friend has finished the book, you can stop
sharing with any of your friends at anytime and select another
person to send your virtual book to.

Flyleaf Bookclub:


Join the Flyleaf Bookclub for only $10!

As a member you can start your own club or join an existing
club listed on the Flyleaf browser.

The book club will select 1 book to read every 2 weeks
and have access to their own Flyleaf chatroom to discuss the
book! The chatroom can be accessed online by logging onto
the flyleaf website or directly from Flyleaf.

Christopher Brown
Chrisbr0vvn@gmail.com
http://www.chrisbrowncreates.com



Reader/Notebook

Christopher Brown
Chrisbr0vvn@gmail.com
http://www.chrisbrowncreates.com

This concept is simply called the ReadR

What differentiates the ReadR from other Readers is the fact that the human touch is brought back into the product.

It is a simple product with a flexible e-ink screen on the inside with capacitative touch technology and an OLED spine

Sensual

The ReadR is weighted to feel like a real book. It’s exterior is comprised of the traditional cardboard construction but with two differences - the exterior is essentially a plain white canvas with an OLED strip down the spine for displaying the book name and book graphics.

When using the book, the user puts his hand on the page ends and “flips” through by dragging his finger over the sides to replicate the page turning of a real book.

If you’re reading the ReadR and you drop it, damage is virtually incurred on the page you were reading. When you’ve dropped the ReadR several times, pages will “fall out” of the book to simulate a real book experience. But of course you’ll have the choice of reverting.

To turn the pages while reading, a user simply swipes his hand as if he were brushing the interior of the screen.

Social

When purchasing a book, you recieve a Book Card which is essentially a card with a magnetic stripe that hold the data for your book. The rights are copied to your ReadR when swiped.

You can share books with friends by passing around the Book Card. When a friend swipes your card, you no longer have access to the book.

Rituals

By having a simple eye tracker within the screen, reading on the bus will be a struggle no more. The tracker will see where your eye left off and highlight that word.

Ecosystem

When you’re reading the ReadR and come upon a quote that interests you, you can upload it to your social networking sites for all the world to see.