Books with augmented reality

Every year, there are fewer people reading traditional paper books. An article published in the PPMC journal notes that only 20% of modern teenagers read books, newspapers or magazines every day, while more than 80% of them spend time on social networks.

According to scientists, mental abilities directly depend on the volume of books read over a lifetime. Surprisingly, the fact is that there is a clear relationship between reading skills and a person’s cognitive abilities. Rejection of books can negatively affect the ability to navigate in life and the ability to perceive complex problems. Therefore, despite the fact that the modern world offers many alternative sources of information, books are still the best of them. They give access not only to new knowledge, but also teach a qualitative analysis of a particular phenomenon.

According to statistics, the top five most reading countries in the world are: China (70%), Russia (59%), Spain (57%), Italy (56%), Great Britain (56%). At the same time, a large mass of readers around the world, about 60%, prefer e-books. The high pace of life and the lack of free time do not allow a modern person to enjoy a leisurely shopping in bookstores. E-books turned out to be more accessible and easier to use.

The appearance of books with augmented reality made it possible to once again draw the attention of adult and children’s readership to paper books. Technology has breathed new life into the printed pages of both children’s fiction and encyclopedic publications and textbooks. AR is not only entertaining, but also allows you to enrich the contents of the book, strengthen the reader’s interest and perception of information, increase the learning effect. Augmented reality has reconciled classic book editions with new technologies, and is used as a tool with which you can awaken the love of reading in the digital generation.

Augmented reality is an innovative technology that complements the real world with virtual objects presented in the form of 3D models, 2D images or videos.

Using books with AR technology is very simple. It is enough to download a special application on a smartphone or tablet, open it and point the gadget’s camera at the page with augmented reality to watch how a 3D image comes to life or a video is played.

The use of augmented reality in books makes a vivid impression and arouses interest in reading them among children of different ages. Therefore, the technology is also used in school textbooks and is considered a breakthrough in the educational sphere. An unconventional approach to learning allows you to better assimilate information, remember large amounts of it. These facts are confirmed by experiments, during which one group studied new material using AR, and the other-by classical schemes and manuals. The tests showed that the representatives of the first group learned almost 90% of the total amount of material, showed discipline and interest in learning, while the classical approach showed three times less effectiveness.

How are AR books created?

Creating a book with augmented reality consists of many stages. The Big Dream Lab company carries out a full cycle of production of books with augmented reality in Nur-Sultan. We combine the IT department and the printing house, which allows us to produce high-quality products in compliance with all technical requirements at every stage.

Any book begins with the development of an idea.

A team of content managers studies the reader’s interest of different ages and chooses a topic for a new book. A large amount of material is collected and processed to create cognitive content. The most interesting and reliable of them are reflected on the printed pages.

1. In parallel with the development of the book’s content, the concept of 3D animation and the script are being developed.
2. The plots are visualised by illustrators, 3D designers, animators and programmers.
3. Before the release of products, we invite the target audience to test it.
4. At the final stage, we send the entire print run to print and release an application with augmented reality. Printing a book with augmented reality is no different from the process of printing a regular book. At the stage of preparing the layout of the publication, «correct» illustrations are created from the point of view of AR technologies, in other words, markers for augmented reality.