Content shifting. Possibilities of AR in publishing

Abstract

Books are special due to their quality and presence. They were the main source to store and enquire information for a long period of time. However, there is a question, which is relevant nowadays. Is it possible that digital reading will replace physical books and does this mean that the printed world is going to become a thing of the past? Computers and the internet broke into our lives 30 years ago. And interactive technologies became a routine in our daily schedule. They are a great help in processing and saving information. Without any doubt, living in the Digital Era gives a wide variety of possibilities for society. Even though it looks like modern technologies will take over the world and kill their predecessors, it is not true. The more realistic picture is that technology will improve already existing media. For instance, John T. Hamilton claims that there is a good chance that the physical book will not disappear and that modern technology will make its current functioning even better. In “Book Presence in a Digital Age” he wrote that “An efficacious extension of publishing capacity, digital technology does not smother our bibliophilia, but rather allows it to flourish.” One of the possibilities which can improve and make book publishing flourish is augmented reality (AR). In the practical part of this thesis project, you can see the combination of paper book and AR app. The old-fashioned story about Baron Munchausen illustrates his unbelievable adventures or just lies and make-up stories, but in the modern world. When you are reading the text on the paper, you can only see an abstract shape. The magic appears during the scanning process. The AR app will trigger the image and show an illustration on top of the shape. And this is not the end. You can choose which illustration you want to see from three topics: Fame, Love and Money. For sure, it is possible to add more and more categories to the app and expand it to an unlimited number. This concept or method I called Content Shifting. When on one template you can apply multiple outcomes and change them with an app. The idea of this thesis work is to take the best qualities and benefits, then improve them with the Content Shifting method based on AR technology. The project considers the advantages of physical publishing using the AR technology as the final outcome. It is an attempt to show how we can use two different media together and their usage from their combination: the possibility to go beyond the pages of the book and get a more immersive reading experience. Also, hide some information, to make an unexpected surprise on the next stage. To sum up, the story about the lies of Baron Munchausen perfectly fits into the idea of Content Shifting. As it is hard to see the truth and lie in our world, it is also not possible to see something concrete in the shapes without scanning them. It should also be mentioned that an app without a book has no value, while you can read and use the book without an app. Probably, because the book is physical, it is truly a unique medium which cannot be replaced by anything; however, it could be improved.