Elektrobiblioteka Takes the E-Book to a Whole New Level

By Tuan Mai
published

Designer transforms a book into an interactive computer interface.

With the rapidly growing pool of eBook readers and tablets flooding the market, physical books are becoming less and less appealing. While its doubtful the eBook will bring the book to complete extinction, book sales have certainly taken a hit over the years. But that doesn't mean they can't work together. One designer has taken it upon himself to blur the lines between digital and print with Elektrobiblioteka.

Designed by Poland Academy of Fine Arts student Waldek Wegrzyn, Elektrobiblioteka is a half-art half-peripheral device that lets users control their computer with a book. While you definitely won't be able to control your desktop with the device, the book interacts particularly well with its coupled application. The book device is essentially used as a controller to interact with a digital eBook. Turning a page in the book switches pages in the app and tapping graphics in the book bring about animations or videos in the app.

Since creating the physical book isn't the easiest of tasks, it's hard to see how this concept would make its way into the market. Either way, the idea is definitely an interesting one and explores a potential relationship between magazines, books and their digital counterparts.

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Tuan Mai
Tuan Mai
Tuan Mai is a Los Angeles based writer and marketing manager working within the PC Hardware industry. He has written for Tom's Guide since 2010, with a special interest in the weird and quirky.
11 Comments Comment from the forums
  • kcorp2003
    we need more creative minds like this. come on ladies make the right choice.
    Reply
  • FloKid
    kcorp2003we need more creative minds like this. come on ladies make the right choice.The finger nails might get it the way
    Reply
  • "Since creating the physical book isn't the easiest of tasks, it's hard to see how this concept would make its way into the market" once upon a time creating books were challenging task - until Mr Gutenberg show us how to do it right
    Reply
  • freggo
    I admit, at first I wanted to give it a thumbs down and make a silly 'what a waste of time' comment.
    But after watching the video I must say there may be something to it actually.

    Once this is done on an industrial scale, embedded micro electronics, RF, WIFI or Bluetooth interface instead of a cable. Cost down due to mass production...
    This could indeed be useful for all sorts of things.

    From an interface for the Blind to school books with interactive examples of problem solutions etc.
    Talk about a 'teachers edition' :-)

    Reply
  • alidan
    freggoI admit, at first I wanted to give it a thumbs down and make a silly 'what a waste of time' comment.But after watching the video I must say there may be something to it actually.Once this is done on an industrial scale, embedded micro electronics, RF, WIFI or Bluetooth interface instead of a cable. Cost down due to mass production...This could indeed be useful for all sorts of things.From an interface for the Blind to school books with interactive examples of problem solutions etc.Talk about a 'teachers edition' :-)
    i was thinking more allong the lines of you buy a book, and it teaches you with examples, and you read the why in the book.

    think any collage book

    getting smarter without paying for the classes would be very nice and is something id be intrested in.
    Reply
  • jkflipflop98
    This is stupid.

    It's not the medium that matters, it's the message contained within. Get over the fact that books are dying. Not everything needs a white knight to save it from extinction.
    Reply
  • It's not about books, it's about the future ways of communicating with digital devices. Not only keyboards, touch screens etc., even natural writing or speech recognition. Computers of the future, when almost everything will be a "computer", are going to understand human behaviour and recat accordingly.
    Reply
  • master_chen
    Awesome.
    Reply
  • If gotten down to a cheaper medium I could see this work....How to books....School books....For dummies books kids books, either way I give a bravo and 2 thumbs up to the person who made this. Keep thinking outside of the box!
    Reply
  • husker
    "Since creating the physical book isn't the easiest of tasks, it's hard to see how this concept would make its way into the market."

    Wow. And this is supposedly a tech writer and tech website??? I think an iPad, a car, a television, a house, a cellphone, etc., are all harder tasks to create from scratch than this project. Yet somehow they are almost ubiquitous. What an uninformed and short sighted opinion.
    Reply