Google files patent for popup books with AR elements

The first time I’ve ever seen anything with Augmented Reality was when using the AR cards that came with the Nintendo 3DS. This blew my mind back in 2011: You set a card on a coffee table or a desk and looked through the handheld console’s telescopic 3D screen to find some characters pop up right out of the card. Moving the handheld around the card shifts the view of the 3D character on the screen.

Google filed a couple of patents with the United States Patent and Trademark Office which outlined a story telling experience enhanced with AR elements that could be interacted with.

The first patent was filed for an “interactive book” using pressure and motion sensors that are built into the pages. Next, a small lens would project images onto the pages depending on what the user presses or does to the pages. There would also be speakers embedded in the device to add to the experience.

The other patent was for a kind of tablet that is embedded into the book, then, every page in the book has a secondary ‘vertical page’ of sorts which would display content that compliments the physical page.

As always, patents don’t usually mean something will become real products, not even experimental hardware may ever be a reality. Even at this point In time, I’m surprised that we haven’t really seen a sort of children’s book with AR or VR elements used to enhance it.

Source | Via