Goodnight Lad 'Augmented Reality' Book Comes Alive

Digital books offer things a paper book can't, not the least of which are both interactive and animated elements. Still, there's nothing quite like a physical printed book, particularly when it comes to kids who like to handle a physical object and flip through pages. A new children's book called "Goodnight Lad" aims to be the solution, striking an even mixture between the two storytelling mediums by merging technology and paper into what is being called an "augmented reality" book.

The device is a two part system, consisting of the book and the app. The book itself is just an illustrated child's book, but when the smartphone camera is pointed at it (using the app), the pages are shown with animations that make the illustrations appear to come to life — the characters sit up, move around, and more or less make the book look like magic.

Details about how this is pulled off aren't given, but you can see examples of it in the video above. The app will be available for both iOS and Android users, while the book measures in at 5- x 5-inches and is board-style. It concerns a boy named Logan that won't go to bed, and so instead he travels around before getting tired and grumpy.

The folks behind the book were hoping to raise $5,000 on Kickstarter, something they exceeded in short order, having so far raised about $16,300 USD with 20 days remaining. A pledge of $20 USD will get you one copy of the book and the related app. Shipping starts in June, and is free to those in the US.

SOURCE: Kickstarter