There have been plenty of cool new products emerge on the market in recent years – but surely the Wonderbook, which works with the Sony PlayStation 3 console, is among the best.
It is an augmented reality product that means that when users hold up specially created books to a connected camera they will appear on screen with interactive graphics. Effectively, this can turn a book into a mini game.
How does it work?
The Wonderbook is expected to be launched with a new Harry Potter title that has been partly written by JK Rowling. It has been described as “the reinvention of the story book” with “words, pictures and stories coming to life in a way never seen.”
Its magic occurs thanks to the PlayStation’s Eye digital camera and the Move motion controller which appears on the screen – in the case of the launch title, The Book of Spells, it will appear as a magic wand. Users are then taught that certain gestures can trigger certain types of magic – and this allows them to take part in a host of activities, such as setting fire to paper dragons.
It’s actually not the first time that Sony has attempted to work with augmented reality based concepts. It has also introduced the EyePet, which is software that allows users to interact with a virtual animal; and Eye of Judgement, which is a card-based game. However, neither of these games enjoyed significant success. Now however, Sony believes that it might have made a real breakthrough with the technology and particularly thanks to the links to Harry Potter. Generally it requires a big hook to get a concept across from the limited number of people who understand it, to a gigantic mass of people who don’t understand it but now have a reason to learn about it. This hook is, of course, JK Rowling, an author with huge success.
In addition, Sony took the opportunity at its Press conference to talk about the PlayStation Vita – a handheld console that will get two spin-offs to the best-selling series: Call of Duty Black Ops: Declassified; and Assassin’s Creed 3: Liberation.
Game for a bargain
If you’re a keen gamer then you won’t want to wait around for these new releases: and the good news is that you can reduce the cost of your purchases with the video game voucher codes available now at Moneysaver.
In addition, Moneysaver offers a price comparison service on video games. All you have to do is type in the name of your favourite game and it will search for the best price for you across a host of leading websites – with the likes of Ghost Recon, Future Soldier; Diablo; and Xbox Live all available.