Books have been around for thousands of years in various forms, and when it comes to education, despite the proliferation of online resources, nothing has yet displaced the textbook from its prominent position in the educational field. However, one company is seeking to transform the humble textbook with the power of augmented reality (AR) technology.
Livit Studios launched a Kickstarter campaign on 11th October, 2017, seeking the slightly unusual figure of $6,811 (USD). The idea was to create a series of books aimed at children that could blend written educational content with interactive AR technology in order to get children more absorbed in the learning process.
The first book in the planned Imagina series is titled ‘The Human Body‘ and is designed to take readers on an interactive journey through the complexities of the human body. Using a smartphone or tablet, children can point the camera at any organ illustrated in the book to see it come to life in AR as a 3D model. The book is also planned to feature gamification features, such an AR puzzles and games to help children learn. There will be two animated characters named Sarah and Adam who will help guide the reader on their journey.
Reward tiers started at $21 for an Early Bird package, which came with one hardcover copy of The Human Body and one activation code for the AR smartphone app, which is available on iOS or Android. Higher tiers mostly gave backers more copies of the book and license, aimed at families and educational centres.
The campaign was successful, as of writing having raised $9,444, well over the initial goal. Livit Studios anticipate that user testing of the product will begin in January of 2018, with an estimated date for shipping the finished product sometime in March 2018.
The company also hopes to begin work on the next two books in the Imagina series soon, which will be Outer Space and The Ocean.
You can watch the demonstration video for The Human Body book below. Further information can be found on the Kickstarter page.
VRFocus will bring you further news on Livit Studio’s Imagina book project as it becomes available.
via Mint VR