Arena for Books

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Read the BriefSee all IdeasParticipants
Viewing published ideas, sorted by popularity.
Digital Dimension - embracing the bookstore experience for ebooks.
Find digital content with the pleasure of browsing books. A table with physical books as triggers.
1/5

Solution

I love bookstores. The smell of books, the serendipity of stumbling and discovering new titles – a type of experience the digital bookstores deeply lack. However, my reading behavior gravitates more towards screens. Digital Dimension is a table in a bookstore, where you can discover digital content. You just take any book from the shelf and put it on the table. You can see information about the eBook version and see a sample on your device. If you buy the book at the register, all pages unlock.

What is the core principle of your idea?

The experience of just browsing a store is important. You can just run into something great and unexpected. A book store is a place to go and spend time. So I embrace this experience to discover digital content.

Technology (aimed at bridging virtual and physical)

Image recognition - The table uses image recognition to identify the book. Bluetooth Beacons - used to recognize what user/device is close by (requires an app installed at user's device unfortunately) to send the sample.

Can your idea be applied to different formats (in a bookstore, at a trade fair, at a conference)?

The format is versatile and can be used to bridge any 'recognizable' object and personal devices.

Bookstore: discover purchase digital version of physical book Trade fair: discover commercial details of certain item (book, movie, business card, etc.) Conference: use this ritual to take home physical information picked up during the event (imagine these stations allowing you to beam business cards from people you met to your phone, without taking your phone out of your pocket.)

Would it be possible to turn your idea into a reality, or at least create a prototype of it, at short notice, i.e. by the Frankfurt Book Fair in October 2014?

What I am showing here is already a very limited prototype. If we would limit the amount of books it should work with, we could easily make this happen by using the Qualcomm AR library for Unity, or Intel IPP / openCV and a limited database.

What do you estimate the costs for the prototype or the final implementation of your idea to be?

If we would build this, each 'station' or table would cost about 1200 EUR in material and 300 in labour. Software development would take about two weeks at developer rates, so that would amount to 8000 EUR. A setup of four stations at a pavilion at the fair would cost about 12.500. Just one station about 9.000, since development time is amortized over just one station.

Comments

InDezign
InDezign
almost 6 years ago

Is this system your work, Marcel? Cool! I really like the idea of using real books for searching ... the only question I got is: Where's the difference in going into a bookstore, searching for a real book, scanning the EAN with the smartphone, getting the infos and buying online?

MarcelSch
MarcelSchowner
almost 6 years ago

The system is my idea indeed, however it's a combination of existing technologies of course. The difference with just scanning a code is the user experience. In this concept, you seamlessly transition from physical book to digital content on your personal device, without leaving the social dynamic of the brick and mortar store. As a customer you can choose to google the ebook yourself, but if the store provides this flow, chances are, stores can provide a premium way of offering digital conent. e.g. The bookstore where we recorded the movie was very interested in having such a system.

DavidOlbrich
DavidOlbrichguide
almost 6 years ago

Hey Marcel,

Thanks for your submission!

This is such nice and lovely presentation, your video makes a lot of fun to look at - it's really personally and entertaining!

I like your conceptional approach and you're pointing out the experience of browsing and "just run into something great and unexpected", thats incredible!

You're counting on the feelings caused by paper books in your draft and video.

  • But how will you deal with Ebook releases that will only exist online, hows the handling and tangibility then?

Curious about your answers!

Best form Berlin,

David

MarcelSch
MarcelSchowner
almost 6 years ago

Hi David,

Thanks! It's my local bookstore around the corner and my girlfriend acting ;-)

To answer your question concerning strictly digital publications: e-books can be represented by a physical token with a cover and back cover blurb. Think of it like an old school video store where you could browse the empty boxes and they would do the actual tape in the box after paying.

If these tokens are presented alongside with regular books, you will shift the perception from the medium to the content. In the end, it's the content I care about the most.

I hope this answers your questions. Best from Rotterdam!!

Marcel

Mahe_22
Deleted User
almost 6 years ago

Very clear presentation.Good idea.

voinealex
voinealex
almost 6 years ago

THIS IS REALLY OUTSTANDING ! the transition that you propose is really awesome and works ! It makes thing so much easier. GOOD LUCK !

unlime
unlime
almost 6 years ago

really nice presentation! good job, marcel! :)

wycich83
Piotr Wycichowski
almost 6 years ago

I like this idea! good luck! :]]

MarcelSch
MarcelSchowner
almost 6 years ago

Thanks guys! I really liked this challenge, would love to take this to the next level!