How to Make an Augmented Reality Book
Source: Alyssa Buffenstein

Materials for a soon-to-be Augmented Reality Book. Image: via Instructables.com

We’re inching closer to the media landscape predicted by J.K. Rowling, where images in print and paint are not only moving, they're sentient. Convivial Studio created a prototype for an augmented reality book where animated images are projected onto blank spaces where the illustrations usually are, and they’re sharing their magical new creation with the world via how-to powerhouse, Instructables.

Using an XBox 360 Kinect to track the movement of the book, a projector continuously blasts images onto the pages, without the need of a clunky headset. “We always thought augmented reality to be a great technology,” write the project’s creators. “It is always required to experience it while looking through a device. We wanted to try to use it in combination with projection mapping to create a seamless and magical experience.”

The tutorial requires old-school tools as well as high tech ones. Image: via Instructables.com

The 14-step tutorial shows you how to bind your book using a Japanese stab binding technique, a straightforward method that basically entails sewing a stack of pages together. The second half of the tutorial is a bit more complicated, requiring makers to be familiar with openFrameworks and code to create the Kinect/projector setup and make the book readable to the machines.

Once the setup is completed, users can create their own scenes in openFrameworks, illustrating and animating their custom book. DIY or die!