MIT Media Lab researchers have developed a wearable book—one who’s technology allows its reader to experience the feelings of the book's characters. As I am an ardent, lifelong lover of books and stories, my reaction to finding out this project’s existence, and the fact that said project could one day be hooked up to my favorite books, was…somewhat strong.
Ahem. Book lovers, say hello to Sensory Fiction:
I GET TO GO INSIDE THE MINDS OF MY FAVORITE CHARACTERS NOBODY LOOK AT ME
As you can see above, the project uses a pegboard-bound book, called “The Girl Who Was Plugged in.” The book is set up with 150 LED lights and a series of sensors and actuators all wired to a vest the users wear. The project was designed to make reading a more stimulating experience, so depending on how the plot of the book is going, “The Girl Who Was Plugged In” generates vibrations and ambient lighting to match the story’s characters or mood.
The book’s vibrations and lights are combined with technology in the vest engineered to let you feel the character’s emotions: during an event where the character is scared, the vest’s built-in body compression system will constrict around your stomach and back, combined with vibration patterns to increase your heart rate. The vest will even heat up to simulate a blush if the character would be feeling embarrassed, all in all making reading “The Girl Who Was Plugged In” a much more engaging process than people in today’s fast-paced world probably expect.
Sensory Fiction’s website states that “these tools can be wielded to create an immersive storytelling experience tailored to the reader,” but in a way that still allows for the reader’s imagination.
There’s nothing wrong with good old-fashioned imagination, of course—if you have to rely on flashing lights and compression systems to get into a story, it is not a good story—but if you combine those things with your own imagination and empathy for the characters, you’re sure to create an unforgettable reading experience. Not to mention that creating the ability to let readers actually feel the feelings of your character is nothing short of awe-inspiring.
Now, my list of favorite characters could fill several encyclopedias at this point, so I would really, really love to try this system out.
That being said, I’m going to beg and plead with Sensory Fiction’s developers until they let me. Wish me luck. And if you want to find out more information about the project, you could visit their website.
Source Discovery
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