éditions volumiques continues to innovate in the area of digital books and games for the iPad. Whereas previous projects such as (I) Pawn showed potential, the following two are a wonderful step forward continuing to question the future of books and games for the iOS platform.
Inspired by Rorschach inkblot test, Rorschach Cards is a collection of playing cards which cause different inkblot effects once laid on the iPad’s screen. As with other éditions volumiques’s games, it appears magnets are used at different locations of the card allowing iPad to recognise unique touch patterns for each card. In addition, the graphic on the visible faces of the cards match perfectly with the animations they generate.
Balloon on the other hand is a “pop up book” story where last pages include an interactive animation of air balloon which with the help of simulated shadow appears to be floating above the iPad. Once again the magnet is used to locate the balloon and different swipes applied to the screen cause wind direction to change. I am not sure whether is it just the video and they way it was filmed but the air balloon does really appear to be floating above iPad’s screen.
Volume editions are a publishing house dedicated to the future of printed media and a research laboratory on the book, paper, and their relationship to new technologies. They believe that the interactive, video games in particular, led to a new conception of the narrative and the role of the reader raising the questions of how to introduce the uses and user experience of digital media in the paper book in order to update, expand its scope and engage the reader in a new way.
