Elektrobiblioteka/Electrolibrary prototype (via Waldek Wegrzyn)
E-books have come a long way since their inception (exactly when is an argument for a later date) and we typically think of them as being a hand-held electronic device, but Waldek Wegrzyn has taken it to a whole new level. The graduate student, from the Academy of Fine Arts in Katowice, Poland, designed a new e-book that is actually a paper book, but can still access media from the internet. Known as the Elektrobiblioteka/Electrolibrary, Waldek designed the e-book that allows the user to physically read the book but when connected to the net, via USB port, additional information pops-up (on the relevant page being viewed) on the books related website. Additional information, movies/animations and quotations correspond with the page being viewed and change when the user turns the next page.
His design makes use of a USB-microcontroller development board hidden inside the book's cover along with circuits made of Acheson ELECTRODAG 725A silver ink that is able to be silkscreened to the individual pages. The computer is able to detect which page is open through the use of JavaScript code (think of it like a keyboard emulator), as well as giving touch sensitive feed-back on the books illustrations. The books content is Waldek’s diploma thesis concerning books as an interface and was heavily inspired by El Lissitzky’s manifesto ‘The topography of topography.' While Waldek’s e-book is certainly ingenious to say the least, it makes me wonder if this will evolve into the next generation pop-up books.
Cabe