Sensory Fiction – a digitally-augmented book

The whiz kids at MIT Media Lab have come up with a more refined ‘4D’ pastime, at least for those of you who are bibliophiles. Developed for a class called “Science Fiction to Science Fabrication,” “Sensory Fiction” is a digitally-augmented book that puts the reader in the protagonist’s shoes through a wearable device, adding a touch of excitement to otherwise inert print media.

“Sensory Fiction’s” cover consists of small LEDs that light up in different patterns of ambient illumination representing to the “book’s mood.” Meanwhile, the wearable device offers vibrations, pressures and temperatures, tracking the plot as it turns, page by page. According to the description, “Changes in the protagonist’s emotional or physical state triggers discrete feedback in the wearable, whether by changing the heartbeat rate, creating constriction through air pressure bags, or causing localized temperature fluctuations.”

http://www.core77.com/blog/wearable/literary_leaps_sensory_fiction_gives_us_a_reading_experience_we_can_feel_and_hear_26327.asp