Is AR the bright distant future or just something blowin’ in the wind?
It depends. It could be both. The answer lies in how the following questions are answered for potential AR customers.
Are they:
The more yeses there are, the higher the probability that AR is the next big thing.
Let’s take a more detailed look at AR opportunities, some issues it is aimed to solve, and the cases where AR made the difference.
How Does Augmented Reality Affect Reading?
AR makes it possible to combine traditional, slow, word-by-word reading with fast access to digital information, nurturing readers’ curiosity.
It is no secret that the smartphone is the most personal device ever in terms of amount of time people spend on it texting friends, communicating globally, and viewing images. But more importantly, how do people consume information on the Web? They do diagonal reading, scanning texts for key phrases and sentences. Thus, surfing, scanning, and skimming the virtual does not replace the old habit of experiencing the perfect tangible pleasure of picking up books and thoughtful reading word-by-word: fast scanning = low memorizing.
Reading a large text word-by-word is more comfortable with a bound book format than on a palm device. And a paper book’s battery doesn’t die and it does not annoy with undesired notifications.
However, books lack dynamic web content such as electronic search, hyperlinks, embedded videos, picture zoom, and many other features users of digital devices enjoy with a simple touch.
This is where smartphone apps provide an extra opportunity to attract and hold audience’s attention. AR apps help establish a bridge between traditional and digital reading: users still read books, but they have instant access to extra content right here, right now, not “must Google it now and read the book sometime later.”
In addition, while AR might not work for news media because readers often just scan and skim through breaking news and digital resources are simply faster in delivery. However, when the newspaper already has or plans an app, AR-based content works for newspapers and illustrated magazines in genres such as analytical articles, reviews, and surveys—all types of content that requires reflective reading where quick access to extra context can make all the difference.
Augmented Reality and Publishing: Cases and Opportunities
AR technology has been around on smartphones for almost a decade, supplying printed materials with interactive models. During this time, AR has been used for various purposes, including marketing and promotion, learning, gaming, entertainment, and more. Publishers targeted audiences in different age groups experimenting with various genres:
AR can be used in several ways. First, to create new, more-engaging and persuading narratives through a combination of digital and traditional storytelling. Also, AR can be used for reinterpretation of many classic books providing details from that epoch, several storylines, and alternative endings. This works particularly well for Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Little Mermaid” and “The Steadfast Tin Soldier,” have sad endings. AR helps make them more optimistic.
Of course, AR can help animate dry facts or abstract characters, bringing more fun into reading.
To make this happen, common types of AR content include the following:
New AR books arrive every year. Most of them start as an experiment under the label “discover the magic inside,” making potential buyers aware that they pay extra for technical novelty. The AR apps are free for download but often contain in-app purchases. When readers keep using the book, the publisher expands the series. Here are some remarkable examples targeted at different audiences.
AR provides publishers with opportunities in a rapidly digitized world and helps them mix various sources of information into one solution. It suits a wide variety of books. However, the most successful AR books are experiments or startups focused on delivering new experiences to the engaged audiences.
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