The document summarizes research conducted by a team to develop an augmented reality children's book. The team explored existing AR applications and innovations, interviewed parents, and analyzed popular AR book apps. Their research found opportunities to make reading more engaging for children by incorporating AR technologies. The team developed design principles for AR books and created early concepts, including an educational storybook or game book with puzzles.
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Augmented Reality Children's Book Project
1. Augmented Reality
children’s book
1
GROUP REPORT BY TEAM FOUR
CI7810 Digital Studio Practice (DSP)
Kingston University,
Department of Science, Engineering & Computing
4. 4
Introduction
Brief
We were tasked with exploring present innovations and industry
practices in the area of Augmented Reality.
This knowledge would be used to create an interactive children’s
book using an existing AR application, based on our acquired
knowledge, or develop a customised one.
Taking advantage of our mixed disciplinary team we covered
aspects of user experience design, interactivity, the use of
animation and the gamification to make our deliverables stand out
and be competitive on the market.
4
What is Augmented Reality?
Augmented reality (AR) is a live, direct or indirect, view of a
physical, real-world environment whose elements are augmented
by computer-generated sensory input such as sound, video,
graphics or GPS data.
5. 5
Introduction
Primary objective
Create a physical artefact (the book) and an app that inspire
children to read for pleasure by transforming the traditionally
static story reading practice into a fun, interactive and engaging
experience through the integration of Augmented Reality
technology.
Secondary objective
Helping parents and children learn that time spent on
smartphones and tablets does not have to be confined to
mindless games; it can also be beneficial to their education
whilst still being fun.
5
The team
ANNA-KAY WILLIAMS
Project Owner / Research Lead
Interested in how AR can aid learning in an
increasingly distracted society.
MESHA LOCKETT
Analyst / Designer
Passionate about education and committed to
technology’s role in advancing literacy.
MAXIE TRAN
Design Lead/ Illustrator and Animator
Keen on bringing artwork to life with AR technology to
offer a richer experience to the users.
KEITH BROWN
Game Designer
Introducing new ways of storytelling through AR
technology and decision making.
ATTHEERA TAPDUANGKEO
Technical Lead / Game Programmer
Interested in making AR games that attract a new
generation to read books.
7. 7
Research trip
As part of our initial research gathering exercise the entire team visited the Kingston
branch of Waterstones, one of the leading book retailers in the UK (linkedin.com, 2016).
The purpose of the trip was twofold;
● To get an understanding of traditional children's books
● Find out what elements make reading fun or engaging for children
Content or story of the book aside, we discovered that books were made more engaging
by including more illustrations and fewer words.
How the problem is currently being solved
8. 8
Interactive elements found in traditional books
How the problem is currently being solved
Our research trip revealed that
the following methods were
often used to make books
more interactive.
Books for younger children
● Touch-and-feel
● Hidden elements
● Audio
Books for various
age ranges
● Pop-ups
● Games
● Colourful illustrations
● Audio & video
● Multimedia
● Colouring-in
9. 9
Leapfrogs recommendations
on how to make reading fun
● Keep reading experiences active and engaging
○ Make storybooks come to life by giving
characters different voices and adding
drama to the narration.
○ Interact with the reading material
● Build on children's passions, questions and
preferences
○ When children are excited about a topic,
they will keep reading
● Make reading a social experience
● Be a reading role model
○ As children observe their parents reading
books, emails, magazines and webpages,
they are developing their first
understandings of how reading-related
activities can provide entertainment and
fun, help people communicate and
connect, and teach us something new.
(LeapFrog, 2015)
How the problem is currently being solved
Parental insights on making
reading fun
Our exploration continued with interviews and an ethnographic
study. This research revealed that parents attempt to make the
practice of reading fun by including the following interactive
elements;
● Reading together
● Voices – trying to match the voice of the characters or
using silly voices
● Personalisation – changing the words or character names
to match that of their child or people they know
● Actions – performing actions like “huffing and puffing” to
match the story in the book
● Conversations about the story – asking child questions
about the book content e.g. “That’s a lion. What noise does
a lion make?”
● Integrating sound – mimicking the sounds described or
shown on the page
These findings were supported by the recommendation of
Leapfrog Enterprises, an educational entertainment company
whose mission is to help children learn through fun (2015 Annual
Report (including 2015 Proxy Statement), 2015).
10. 10
Challenges of reading
● 1 in 4 of all children cannot read well by the time they leave primary school (The
Save the Children Fund, 2014)
● Reading for pleasure is more important for children's cognitive development than
their parents' level of education (Reading for Change: Performance and
Engagement across Countries, 2002)
● “Reading for pleasure is not a consideration in many households, and reading
primarily hard work or school associations, rather than being seen as an enjoyable
activity” (The Save the Children Fund, 2014).
Challenges of screen time
● Experts are growing concerned about the amount of screen time children are
getting (Media Use by Children Younger Than 2 Years, 2011; Boseley, 2012;
Subrahmanyam et al., 2000; Kabali et al., 2015)
● 34% of parents believe their children already spend too much time looking at
screens (Egmont UK Ltd, 2013)
Market challenges
First hand research
Our research showed us that parents
sometimes found it hard to make up
stories, or create enough interaction in
order to make books sufficiently
engaging, so that their children do not get
distracted.
Parents also stated that their children
often employed a copycat attitude and
frequently chose to use a device for
entertainment because they saw someone
else in their household using one.
Academic evidence
11. 11
Market opportunities
First hand research
All parents in our research expressed a
desire for their children to read for
pleasure or enjoyment. Many stating the
purpose as instilling a love of learning
resulting in improved literacy and
likelihood of academic success.
More than 80% of our parents had not
heard of Augmented Reality used in
children’s books. When told of the
possibility of AR books, only one stated
that they would not be interested in trying
it with their child.
90%+ also stated that they had
downloaded or allowed their children to
play with online interactive games, stories,
or educational apps. Subsequently, it
appears that there would be a low barrier
to adoption, or at least trial for our AR
book.
Opportunities for reading
● 68% of children would read more if they could find more books that they liked (The
2015 Kids and Family Reading Report, 2016)
● There is a government drive in the UK to improve literacy rates with an action plan
in place to instill a love of reading and inspire more to read (Gov.uk, 2015).
● The National Literacy trust has started the campaign “Read On. Get On” to
encourage parents to read with their children for 10 minutes a day with the goal of
getting all children reading well by age 11 (Reading: the next steps, 2015).
● 10 to 16 year-olds who read for pleasure do significantly better at school (Reading
for Change: Performance and Engagement across Countries, 2002; Ioe.ac.uk, 2016;
Research evidence on reading for pleasure Education standards research team,
2012)
Opportunities for screen time
● Seventy-three percent of children have access to a touch-screen device at home
(The Save the Children Fund, 2014)
● According to Egmont UK Ltd (2013) “Children, and many parents, are thrilled by the
possibilities that technology brings for reading: personalising books, sharing
recommendations online, interacting with stories in new ways…”
Academic evidence
12. 12
Opportunities of AR for children’s books -
increasing children’s motivation to read
Parents feel compelled to provide the latest things for their children so that they don’t feel
left out (Egmont UK Ltd, 2013). There is also an “expectation that children will have
‘entertainment’ all the time. Screen time is one part of a child’s entertainment repertoire”.
(Egmont UK Ltd, 2013).
Therefore, there is an opportunity to make traditional books more engaging by positioning
AR books as the new immersive edutainment technology, where children can actively
engage with the content (Bloxham et al. 2013) and which they can get excited about.
Reading (and playing with) an AR book can easily be seen as standalone form of
entertainment whereas reading a traditional book might not be.
Market opportunities
13. 13
Advantages
Ubiquity of Medium
Tablets and smartphones are widely available. A 2013 study
reported that 75% of American children under 8 have access to a
mobile media device (Nanji, 2013).
Engage Multiple Learning Styles
Due to its inherent multi-modality, AR is able to support a range of
learning styles. Furthermore, abstract concepts that are difficult to
comprehend are enhanced through an interactive learning
environment.
Increased Attention
AR books are an engaging medium that is likely to appeal to digital
natives. They have been noted by teachers as promoting interaction
with learning materials (Diegmann et al., 2015).
Healthier Screen Time
Bridges the gap between the real world and the virtual world,
encouraging an interest in traditional books.
Disadvantages
User Fatigue
Mobile AR can be tiring if inactive and active modes aren’t
carefully balanced (Arthur, 2015).
Unknowable Conditions
Environmental variables such as differences in lighting conditions
between the real environment and virtual objects results in a loss
of credibility in the scene (Riera, Redondo and Fonseca, 2012).
Low Adoption
AR has yet to be accepted by the masses “due to various
bottlenecks which are preventing it from becoming the
mainstream technology that many have anticipated (Martínez et
al., 2014).”
Concern Over Excessive Screen Time
Although AR books can be framed as a healthier type of screen
time, there is still concern among paediatricians “that excessive
media use can lead to attention problems, school difficulties, sleep
and eating disorders, and obesity (American Academy of
Pediatrics, n.d.).”
Advantages and Disadvantages of AR Kid’s Books
14. 14
Related work
The “MagicBook” developed in 2001 by
Billinghurst et. al. was the pioneers for the
use of augmented reality in physical
books. The MagicBook presented users
with a physical book and a mixed reality
scene where users could “transition
between Physical Reality, Augmented
Reality (AR), and immersive Virtual Reality
(VR) in a collaborative setting” (Hornecker
and Dünser, 2009). Using a head mounted
display users could view the scene from
any perspective (AR) or fly into the scene
to experience an immersive VR world
(Billinghurst, Kato and Poupyrev, 2001).
In “Little Red” (Saso, Iguchi and Inakage,
2003) a children’s pop-up version of the
story Little Red Riding Hood, markers are
embedded into the pages of the book
enabling the 3D characters to walk along
the 2D book surface scene (Iguchi, 2006).
Users can interact with and change the
course of the story by pulling tabs on the
physical book revealing markers that alter
the storyline and the ending of the story.
(Grasset, Dünser and Billinghurst, 2008;
Eiksund, 2012) Instead of just watching,
you could participate, similar to the
“Choose Your Own Adventure” book series
by Bantam Books released in 1978
(Chooseco LLC, n.d.).
In 2006 the BBC ran a 3-month AR
storytelling trial as part of “BBC-Jam”, an
online interactive educational service
(Bbc.co.uk, 2006;). As part of the project
the BBC developed two books to support
shared reading at home or at school for
5-7 year olds (Hornecker and Dünser,
2009).
Early history of AR books
Other early contributors to the field
include McKenzie and Darnell, 2004;
Woods et al, 2004; Zhou et al, 2004.
15. App Target Release Content
Animal 4D+
Deck of 26
cards.
Wearable London Tech
Show, 2015.
Illustrations of animals representing
each letter of the alphabet.
Interactive food cards have also
been introduced.
Goodnight Lad
Board book with
30 pages.
Kickstarter in early
2015.
Story about a little boy who won’t
go to bed.
Meet the Animals
Paperback with
36 pages.
Published by Books AR
Alive in 2013.
Story narration in multiple
languages and puzzle game.
Pop AR
Interactive
books, charts,
and puzzles.
Debuted at Toy Fair in
2012.
Educational themes such as
geography, history, and the solar
system.
Two Left Feet
32 page
hardcover book
or printable one
sheet.
AR app published in
2013.
Story about a monster who loves to
dance.
15
To gain a better
understanding of augmented
reality apps for children we
downloaded several to
analyse.
We compiled a list of desirable
augmented reality app
qualities and took screenshots
while evaluating each app’s
interface and overall
experience.
Competitor Analysis
16. 16
User-Cognitive
● Consistency: Components are kept the same throughout the app to prevent
confusion.
● Learnability: Features are easy to learn, intuitive, and explorable.
● Recognition: Essential information is provided in a way that reduces short-term
memory.
User-Support
● Error Management: Errors are supported by prevention and solution.
● Help and Documentation: Relevant help is given to support user applications.
● Personalization: The interface is easily modified to the user’s tastes.
● User Control: Users feel that they have complete control over the actions of the
system.
User-Interaction
● Direct Manipulation: Any movement of the markers matches what appears on
screen.
● Feedback: The user is consistently informed about the state of the system.
● Low physical effort: Minimize the user’s tiredness and effort of operating the
application.
● Responsiveness: The application reacts quickly to the user’s actions.
As our augmented reality children’s book
required a unique evaluation method, we
researched and compiled a list of AR
design principles adapted from Ko, Chang,
and Ji (2013). Our principles can be
broadly classified into five groups: user-
information, user-cognitive, user-support,
user-interaction, and user-usage.
The list was then used to evaluate the
competition in order to analyse usability
problems. Good and poor execution of our
principles were noted during each app
walkthrough.
Design Principles
17. 17
User-Information
● Multi-modality: Multiple modalities such as visual and audio give the user flexibility.
● Enjoyment: Intensity and duration of elective use.
● Familiarity: Familiar icons and metaphors are used along with user-centered
language.
● Visibility: Information is obvious and noticeable. Prevent users from missing critical
information.
● Hierarchy: Large amounts of information are introduced gradually.
● Defaults: The initial setup should be maneuvered easily by the user.
"Motivation, enjoyment and curiosity are important ingredients for any kind of educational
game (Campos and Pessanha, 2011)."
User-Usage
● Availability: Initial operating speed is rapid and previous options are the same after
reoperation.
● Context-based: Different kinds of environments are considered in the UI design.
● Reversibility: It’s easy to restore previous states.
● Navigation: The user can move freely within the app.
Design Principles
“He loved it so much he read it two more
times, once was to show his sister, who
also loved it.” - Google Play Store Review
of Goodnight Lad
The same style of forward and back
buttons are on every screen that the user
interacts with.
18. 18
Early concepts
18
As stated by Raymond (2014), it is
essential to build strong concept art,
known as visual development, an initial
design used to develop the look and feel
of our project from scratch to final
outcomes with Augmented Reality
technology.
Our team understood that we would need
to have a story and characters to build the
most basic concepts and used them as a
guideline for an entire project.
● 1st idea: Storybook - Educational
Telling stories as a way to teach children about knowledge, behavior
● 2nd idea: Game Book - Entertainment
Having short storyline with puzzles for kids to play with in each page
ANNA-KAY WILLIAMS
Project Owner / Research Lead
MESHA LOCKETT
Analyst / Designer
ATTHEERA TAPDUANGKEO
Technical Lead / Game Programmer
● 1st idea: Language - Educational
Making AR children’s book to help young children learn a second
language
● 2nd idea: White space - Interaction
Using whitespace of the book to make the story come to life
● 3rd idea: Music - Entertainment
Creating a sing-a-long book
● 1st idea: Visual Riddles book - Educational
Giving mind exercise to kids to improve their memory, logic skills
and so forth
● 2nd idea: Storybook - Interaction
A story about garden gnomes or other small creatures that unfolds
as you walk through a physical park/ playground
● 3rd idea: Biography - Educational and Entertainment
Book of lesser known scientists throughout history, include AR mini-
game based on the scientist’s area of expertise
19. 19
Early concepts
19
Our team came up with many ideas from
the beginning but we understood we
could only choose one final unified
concept to work on and this was how our
“I’m a Little Monster” was born.
● 1st idea: Storybook - Educational
Teaching kids about the meaning of friendship of a little boy and girl
● 2nd idea: Storybook - Education and Entertainment
Similar idea above to teach children about friendship value but
based on an adventurous journey between a hero and a beast
KEITH BROWN
Game Designer
MAXIE TRAN
Design Lead/ Illustrator and Animator
● Idea: Cards game - Entertainment
Telling stories through a set of cards and using AR to interact with
children
20. We studied children’s book
genres and typical age ranges.
During a group ideation
session we decided to develop
a picture book for younger
children due to their typical
construction which allows the
pages to lay flat while open.
This is ideal as it will enable
the user to easily scan the
target with their device.
There are several styles that
fall within the picture book
category: board books, early
picture books, and standard
picture books. According to
Laura Backes of Children’s
Book Insider each is defined
on the right.
Narrowing Down the Concept
20
0-2 Years 4-8 Years2-5 Years
Board Books Early Picture Books Picture Books
Aimed at infants and toddlers,
board books often teach simple
concepts like colors or names of
animals. They occasionally promote
sensory development by using
different textures or materials that
make various sounds. Their length
is typically 12-16 pages.
Short stories for 2-5 year olds,
early picture books are more
advanced than board books.
They can include simple fairy
tales, rhyming, or educational
content. On average the books
are 32 pages in length.
Simple plots written for ages 4-
8 that are traditionally 32 pages
long. They contain illustrations
that play an integral role in the
telling of the story.
21. 21
Why?
At this age formal schooling has not begun in the UK (Gov.uk, 2015), therefore there is no
psychological pressure to read certain texts or certain amounts in preparation for formal
assessment. Reading can therefore be done in a leisurely manner and treated as an exciting
adventure rather than a chore (Teachreadingearly.com, n.d.).
Incorporating a new medium for ‘play’ into reading from an early age through the use of AR
technology, can assist in creating a positive attitude towards literacy, with reading being
seen as a fun, entertaining activity.
Forming good habits
With data showing that children are increasingly less motivated and spending less time
reading for pleasure as they grow older (Research evidence on reading for pleasure, 2012) it
is recommended in Read On. Get on. (The Save the Children Fund, 2014) that children
develop a positive attitude to reading from an early age.
Persuading children to start picking up books at an early age by utilising the smartphones
and tablets that they are increasingly using for their entertainment (Holloway, Green and
Livingston, 2013) can aid in developing a positive attitude to reading. This in turn increases
the chances that this will continue as they age. Positively affecting educational attainment
and lasting into adulthood (Clark and Rumbold, 2006; Research evidence on reading for
pleasure, 2012).
Deciding our target audience
Our chosen
target audience
is 2-5 year olds
22. 22
What parents want;
● Relatively few words
● Educational
● Nice moral story
● Personalised
● Help learn to express emotions
● Trigger conversations
● Engaging pictures
● Familiar stories
What children want
(according to parents);
● Highly visual page
● Lots of action
● Happy endings
● Family stories
● Simplicity
● Repetition
● Dragons, bears, pirates, monsters
● Rhyming
Insights on reading activity from parents
80% of our respondents said
that their child read at home,
and of those, the average time
spent reading was 5-10
minutes.
23. ““
Goals
23
1 Get young children excited about reading
Make reading fun and interactive
Use technology to improve early years literacy
Enhance the physical book rather than replace it
2
3
4
24. Definitions
What is reading for
pleasure?
According to the Clark and Rumbold
(2006) reading for pleasure is
“reading that we do of our own free will,
anticipating the satisfaction that we will
get from the act of reading. It also refers
to reading that having begun at someone
else’s request we continue because we
are interested in it”
What is literacy?
According to UNESCO (2004)
“literacy is the ability to identify,
understand, interpret, create,
communicate and compute, using
printed and written materials
associated with varying contexts.”
24
25. Personas Using qualitative evidence from
original research we created personas to
aid in the design of the app. Rather than
focusing on superficial qualities like age or
sex, we developed personas based on user
goals and wants.
Defining the User
25
Helicopter Parent
“As an active parent, I want to read
educational books to my son so
that he can excel academically.”
Frustrations
● Mindless media
Context of use
● Busy with extracurricular
activities like swimming
lessons
App wants
● Educational content
● Screen-time management
● Facilitate conversation
Motivations
● Feel and look like a good parent
● Child’s academic success
26. 26
Laissez-Faire Parent
“As a fun mom, I want to read entertaining books with my daughter so that she enjoys
the time we spend together.”
App wants
● Engaging content
● Moral lesson
Motivations
● Keep child entertained
● Encourage child to explore
Independent Child
“As a big kid, I want to read by myself so that my parents praise me.”
App Wants
● Fun enough to hold attention
● Easy to understand
Motivations
● Accomplish tasks on his own
● Feel sense of achievement
● Have fun
Defining the User
Frustrations
● In-app purchases that upset child
Context of use
● Interruptions from other children
Frustrations
● In-app purchases that restrict
exploration
Context of use
● Classroom or at home
● Other apps and interruptions
● Parent asking questions
27. 27
Tools – Game engine
There are many free game engines for developing games. Some of these are powerful and
many popular games are developed using these tools.
Unity
Advantages
● Available for almost any current generation platform
● Editor doesn’t need a powerful a PC to work smoothly
● Live edit at run time. The code and objects can be edited and updated while running
● The game engine supports assets from major 3D applications like 3ds Max, Maya,
Softimage, CINEMA 4D, Blender and more
● Free License
Disadvantages
● High build size
● Need to buy Unity Pro for better optimization
● Weak memory management
Technical Analysis
28. 28
Unreal Engine
Advantages
● Good Graphics Quality
● Open source: Full access source code
● Fast Compilation
Disadvantages
● High build size
● Needs powerful PC to run editor smoothly
● Not much content on Asset Store
CryEngine
Advantages
● Realistic Physics system
● Realistic Graphics
● Advanced Animation
Disadvantages
● Requires a License
● Steep learning Curve
Technical Analysis
29. 29
Technical Analysis
Tools – Augmented Reality SDK
These are AR tool that can be used to develop application for smartphones. The main detail are quite similar. They use a camera to detect the
image target and show virtual object on the screen. They differ in extra features and support. Developer can choose the SDK that is appropriate
for the application and also supported game engine.
Top 5 tools for Augmented Reality
Product Company License Supported Platforms
ARPA SDKs Arpa Solutions Commercial* Android, iOS (ARPA SDKs), Google Glass (ARPA
GLASS SDK), Android, iOS, Windows PC (ARPA
Unity Plugin)
ARLab SDKs ARLab Commercial Android, iOS
DroidAR – Free and Commercial Android
Metaio SDK Metaio Free and Commercial Android, iOS, Windows PC, Google Glass, Epson
Moverio BT-200, Vuzix M-100, Unity
Vuforia SDK Qualcomm Free and Commercial Android, iOS, Windows PC, Unity
Wikitude SDK Wikitude GmbH Commercial* Android, iOS, Google Glass, Epson Moverio,
Vuzix M-100, Optinvent ORA1, PhoneGap,
Titanium, Xamarin
30. 30
Design tools and 3D software research
30
Our design process consisted of three parts. Illustrating the book,
building the 3D elements from the book (i.e. characters) and
making some short animations to work with the AR technology.
Therefore, one of the biggest questions for our team was deciding
which software and tools would be the most reasonable to use
when there is a large market with various and diverse options.
According to Animation Career Review (2013) and Creative Bloq
(2014a), it’s essential to have every possible advantage and always
seek more experience in new software and techniques. Based on
much research, our team firstly listed down all the optional
software that might be appropriate.
We all agreed to choose the Adobe Programs Photoshop, Illustrator
and InDesign to work on the illustrations and book design as not
only were they industry standard, we also had prior experience
working with them. For 3D design, our research revealed that the
most appropriate software to choose between were Blender (The
Blender Foundation), 3ds Max, Maya and Mudbox (Autodesk),
Cinema 4D (Maxon), Zbrush (Pixologic) (Animation Career Review,
2011). After evaluating each option, our team chose Autodesk
Maya because it was not only one of the strongest 3D software on
the market but also it offered a free student license for 3 years.
31. 31
Adobe Illustrator CC
Unlike other traditional software releases,
Illustrator CC actually brought an easier
and better way to work with it for users. As
stated by McVeigh from Macworld (2013),
Adobe improved the software in the way
of not making something new but
something even better. For instance, the
upgrade of its tools such as Touch Type
and Free Transform perfectly support the
users to make basic tasks much simpler,
helping designers work faster but still
have high accuracy and create good
quality outcomes (McVeigh, 2013).
Illustrator was the main software used to
make all the illustrations of our book.
Adobe Photoshop CC
According to Lawton (2014), Photoshop
CC edition could even be identified as the
world’s most powerful image-editing
application with many new upgrade and
improvements. Even though Adobe
Illustrator seemed to be good enough to
work for the whole design process, our
team sometimes used Photoshop to edit
or create some effect for the finished
illustrations when it was necessary.
Adobe InDesign CC
According to Creativebloq (2014b),
InDesign CC has been acknowledged as a
big step forward compared to its older
version InDesign CS6. In addition, Nelson
from Macworld (2014) had a word on
InDesign CC edition as a better e-book
tool and easier workflows for every user.
InDesign was the tool to plan everything
from scratch. We firstly built our book
layout in InDesign and used it again to
combine everything into one; finalising
the full book with illustrations and
typography.
Design tools
The most convenient feature is that these 3 software can interact and work together on the
same platform and time. In other words, we can transfer the data from one software to the
others for adjusting or editing then get back to work on first software again.
32. 32
3D software
32
Autodesk Maya 2016 “All experienced 3D artists owe it to themselves to try 3D Studio Max, and a large portion of the
industry’s veterans agree that no other 3D package is more robust and impressive” (Fronczak, 2011).
The statement above emphasised the power and advantage of using 3ds Max to build 3D models or
make animations. However, with the aim of our team’s project, using 3ds Max to work on the 3D parts of
our project seemed to be too complicated and not necessary when we understood we wouldn’t use all
the benefits of it. In addition, with its high price tag, we didn’t see the specific need to use it when more
affordable software that would meet our requirements for this project were available on the market.
Fronczak (2013) stated that the most impressive software cannot replace individual skill. Therefore,
software is always just a tool and to make the best out of it depends on the way of how we use it.
Our team also looked at Blender, a free 3D modelling and animation software suite. It is open-source
freeware and it doesn't require much memory for user’s computer to work with. However, according to
Brandt (2014), Blender is not a software for everyone and we agreed it would be a waste of time to
master this software when our game and animation specialists were already experienced with Autodesk
3D program such as Maya.
Taking everything into consideration, Autodesk Maya became the most reasonable software for us to
use when building 3D characters and game assets for our AR children book project. Besides being
compatible with other software like Unity to make AR effects, Maya has been acknowledged for
creating simplified animation in more enjoyable ways for artists (Fronczak, 2011).
34. The final idea for the project
was to go with a story that
includes interactivity for the
children not only in the games
they play but in the choices
they make. We wanted them
to feel part or the story as
they go on a journey with our
character. This also allows
replayability or “re readability”
for the children to come back
and enjoy the book multiple
times.
Final Concept
34
35. 35
Story
The story contains three main elements:
Our research showed that parents enjoy books that teach their children good morals in life.
So in order to implement this the idea was to keep the story about good deeds, looking past
our differences, and making friends along the way. Children between the ages of 2 -5
showed more interest in fiction and adventure that helped grow their imagination.
According to the Clark and Rumbold (2006)
“When asked specifically about what type of fiction, if any, they preferred reading,
adventure, comedy and horror/ghost stories were the most frequently chosen types”
Rhyming Scheme
Within the story we chose to go with a
rhyming scheme as well. Using a rhyming
scheme helps communicate an idea in an
effective way to young children, keeping
control of the speed and flow of the story.
When each line ends the same way it helps
children keep pace with the story and not
slow down anywhere along as they read.
“I'm a big monster and I need to eat
Hey little monster can you find me a
treat?”
35
Child Meets
Monster
Game is played
to help
Monster
Monster needs
Child’s help
36. 36
Influences
Main influences include the Pixar movie
Monsters Inc as well as a recently
released indie game called Undertale.
Undertale shows a young child thrown
into a world filled with fascinating
creatures and colourful characters. The
child befriends and helps the monsters
encountered on the journey and learns
from her experiences with them.
The main character was influenced from
Monsters Inc. in that it includes a small
child blending in with the others in a
custom made monster outfit. The child
never shows fear of the other monsters as
she is more passionate about discovering
the world around her.
Story
37. 37
Script
I'm a little monster rawr rawr rawr
I'm a little monster hear me rawr
(AR:tap screen to hear rawr)
There are no monsters hear that I see
So I'm off to find monsters just like me
I'm a big monster and I need to eat
Hey little monster can you find me a treat?
(AR: 3 choices finding treats)
Thank you little monster you're a true
friend
Come little monster I'll join you till the end
I'm a tiny monster and I'm stuck up high
Hey little monster can you help me from
the sky?
(AR: 3 choices getting the monster down)
Thank you little monster you're a true
friend
Come little monster I'll join you till the end
Story
I'm a spooky monster and I've lost my toy
Hey little monster can you find something
to bring me joy
(AR: 3 choices of locations to look for toys)
Thank you little monster you're a true
friend
Come little monster I'll join you till the end
Ending:
I'm a little monster and now I see
There are so many monsters just like me
They may be big they may be small
They may be wide they may be tall
But these monsters that I call friend
And a friend is a friend till
The End
38. 38
First monster asks you to help find some
food to eat.
Options include:
● Tapping to pluck apples
● Touching fish in order to catch it
● Shaking bushes to grab grapes
Second monster asks you to help get
down from a high tree.
Options include:
● Climb vines to reach monster
● Use sheet found on floor to catch
monster
● Big monster shakes tiny monster
free and is then caught
Third monster asks you to help find a lost
item.
Options include:
● Shine light in cave
● Rattle bushes
● Turn over boulders
Game Concepts & Design
After meeting a monster in need the user will come across 3 options. Each option can be scanned via the companion app to play an AR
Game. The games were designed to be simple and intuitive, so that the user can easily achieve the goal and move on to the next page. Given
the age range of our target demographic it was important that the children did not get frustrated at any point or struggling to complete the
games. As the story continued there would be a slight increase in challenge and complexity keeping the user engaged.
39. 39
Advice from an expert, a book designer
Secondly, in term of getting knowledge about how a business works, our team believed the
best way was to talk with people who are working in it. As a result, around the middle of
November 2015, we got a chance to speak to Arianna Osti, a book designer who has more
than 5 years experience designing books for both children and adults. Our team kept in
mind all the useful advices from Arianna about how to design a good children’s book based
on key factors like style, typography, illustration and working process (details via our blog
with reference link above).
● Style: keep it simple
● Typography: play with proper scale and have to be readable
● Illustration: work well with text and might look fun or have sense of humour
● Process: start with a good layout and an accurate size of the book in the beginning
then sketch and finalise the illustrations
Typography issues
Book designer Arianna showed us the importance of using proper and reasonable
typography. According to Creative Bloq (2014), typography could be known as one of the
core value for good design of any kind of book. Furthermore, it was even more important to
understand the connection between the illustration and typography for a children book.
Book design plan
Designing an illustration book for
children seems to be the work of the
artists. Fortunately, our team was a
combination of different types of
designer. Therefore, our work was
always based on doing research.
Following our research process, we
knew it was very important to firstly
understand our target market and its
business before actually working on
any project. Hence, we started having
both short and in-depth interview
with some parents and children to
answer our early main question of
how the children’s favorite books
would look like.
“Keep it simple”
40. Silhouette
● Strong lighting
● Gradient or flat color backgrounds
● Theatrical composition
● Moody and atmospheric stories
Activity
● Bright and colorful
40
Book design plan
Ghoul & Monsters theme
● Dark coloring
● Activity and picture books
● Strong character development
● Humorous stories or concepts
Simple picture book
● Limited colour palettes
● White space or flat color
● Light hearted stories
● Quirky illustration
● Cute characters
The trends
According to Advocate Art
(2014), Lauren, a senior book
designer, has illustrated four
fantastic moodboards to
show the recurring themes
and different trends for the
market of children’s book in
2015.
A brief of those four main
themes with their key
elements and significant
attributes can be seen on the
right.
41. 41
Book design plan
Designing the book for use with an AR app
Augmented Reality can be acknowledged as a magical technology to graphic and illustration children
books in recent time. It totally gives a soul to the children’s books, make every page alive and brings the
artworks to life. According to Books AR alive (2015), “The real world and fantasy worlds dance together
within the magical window of your smartphone or tablet”. Adding to this point AR books could soon
start becoming a serious mass market opportunity soon because “everyone from budding readers to
college students will come to expect rich, supplemental experiences that go beyond words on paper”
(Brenzo, 2013).
Our team couldn’t deny the fact that we were just the newbies and beginners when we have just learned
about it and started to deploy our AR children’s book project. We wanted to design our book so that
even without AR technology, it could still be enjoyed as a traditional illustration book. In other words, it
would still be as good as every other children's book on the market. Nevertheless, we understood the
main aim of our project was to apply AR technology to it.
Initially, our team considered building as many AR objects as possible for every single page of our
children's book but we soon realised that it wasn’t necessary and might bring a bad result. On the other
hand, our Game Programmer showed us some limitation of current AR technology in regard to how it
would track the images and illustrations then convert them into visual effects on the screen of
smartphone and tablet.
“An augmentable rating defines how well an image can be detected and tracked using the Vuforia SDK.
This rating is displayed in the Target Manager and returned for each uploaded target via the web API”.
(Vuforia, n.d.).
As it was quite theoretical and much information, details should be read via our blog: https:
//augmentedrealitychildrensbook.wordpress.com/2015/11/22/factors-affecting-marker-
qualitydetection/#more-249
42. 42
Book design plan
Our team have always worked on designing the books and testing AR with its illustrations at the same
time. After making a lot changes, our team experienced that we needed to make it clear to our users/
readers about which illustrations would only be going to show up by AR technology. Based on the
design principle of visibility, we decided to provide our users with visual clues about which parts of the
book were interactive.
Due to tracking issues of
the illustrations to AR, our
team had to change the
form of the targets few
times before it worked
perfectly.
In conclusion, as has been
stated in Junior Library
Guild (2012) about the Top
100 Picture Books for
children, “You could argue
that the first books a child
encounters will influence
how they read for the rest
of their life”; our team
wanted to design our book
as something meaningful to the kids and not only motivating them to enjoy reading but also letting
them interact with the new technology, Augmented Reality.
Direct link to our first book layout concept: https://files.slack.com/files-pri/T0DFHD134-
F0FDLMBM1/book_layout.pdf
43. 43
Character design
Firstly, as described in the list of Top 100
Picture Books (Junior Library Guild, 2012),
many children's books on the market have
used the images of monster as their
characters. It meant somehow the
monster has already became really familiar
to the target audience (the kids) of the
children books. As an example, Joanne, a
mother who read “The Monster at the End
of This Book” (tenth place in Top 100
Picture Books) to her daughter, stated
that the monster character really made a
good impacts on the children.
● “Don’t turn the page.” I’ll never
forget the first time I read this to
my daughter. She really didn’t
want me to turn the page. And
then she laughed at the end. –
Joanne Rousseau (Junior Library
Guild, 2012)
Secondly, our team was inspired by Boo,
the little girl and main character of the
animation Monster, Inc. by Disney Pixar
(The Disney Wiki, 2015). In the animation,
Boo had a scene appeared inside a
monster costume and from our own
experience, we believe it has left a lovely
impression not only on our memorable
childhood’s movies but also for others’
too. Therefore, our team somehow had
decided to create our own character for
the children's book project as a kid wear
the costume of monster. However, we
haven’t stopped yet at this point.
Adding to the point above, we truly have
found out some research about “Why,
where and how often are children reading
in the UK?” which completely gave us the
motivation to create our main character
as a kid in the monster costume
(Scholastic, 2015). It has been illustrated
that 41% children want their picture
books have characters they wish they
could be like. Besides, we also kept in
mind that 63% children prefer the book
that make them laugh.
How we gave birth to our little Monster
44. 44
Character design
According to Creative Bloq (2015), our team have been able to collect 20 essential tips for
the process of creating our characters become fantastic and amazing as following.
01 - Decide who it’s aimed at
02 - Decide where it will appear
03 - Research other designs
04 - Make character distinctive
05 - Use line qualities and style to
describe character
06 - Use exaggerated characteristics
07 - Choose colours carefully
08 - Add accessories
09 - 2D or 3D
10 - Give character personality
Design process of characters
11 - Focus on facial expression
12 - Give character goals and dreams
13 - Build up a back story
14 - Experiment!
15 - Make character design flexible
16 - Swap mouse for pen
17 - Get feedback from others
18 - Plan and polish the design
19 - Create the right environment for
character
20 - Fine-tune the figure
First design of main character
Based on the huge impact of LEGO on the UK toy industry in 2014 (Telegraph, 2015) as well
as their strong reputation for being a great friend in children’s life through time, We
explored building a character that looks like a LEGO character as we believed it would create
a bond with our target audience after reading our book. Our first 2D and 3D design of the
main character looked like as on the top and right hand side respectively.
The character had a similar boy-face to a LEGO character. He also wore the costume of a
frog monster. As mentioned in the section above, we tried to make him look funny as much
as possible.
45. 45
Character design
We quickly recognised the value of being
able to create our own characters which
would be totally new. Remembering the
useful advices from Arianna Osti, a book
designer who has been interviewed by us,
our team started working again with
having a design concept of the most
simplicity and including a sense of
humour. Based on the interesting fact
“keeping it simple” from the symbols of
Playstation controller (Plunkett, 2010), we
chose these very typical shapes to create
our characters this time (i.e. square, circle,
triangle and X). In addition, we also
decided to use the most popular and basic
color system like RGB to apply the main
colors for our characters.
The image above was our rough sketch for all the characters. We finally decided to have the
main character as a kid wearing the monster costume and the other three characters would
be real monsters. As described in the 20 top character design tips (Creative Bloq, 2015), our
team acknowledge the importance of giving our characters personalities. We came up with a
few ideas for different art styles, colours etc. As a result, we all agreed on the final design for
our characters. Once again, our book had a story of friendship and we wanted to convey one
of the messages that we would be friends with everyone not because the way they looked,
we were willing to help them for any issues they met without hesitation.
Final concept of characters design
46. 46
Character design
Final concept of characters design Short description about each character:
● Main character (Purple - as middle tone color stand
between hot and cold): represent for Summer/
morning. He is our main character who is very eager
to start finding to his friends, the real monsters. Fun
fact: he is wearing a chubby monster costume like a
moving egg and somewhat he wants to become like
his friends.
● Big monster (Red - Circle): represent for Spring/ noon.
He has a huge body and look the most grim but
indeed he is very gentle with a bit shy. Fun fact: he
wears a children diaper and has a small bandage on
his head.
● Small monster (Green - Square): represent for
Autumn/ afternoon. This character is quite emotional
and sometimes others thought he had two different
faces. He loves music. Fun fact: he has a soul of an
artist that’s why he can fly but with a parachute
above.
● Spooky monster (Blue - Triangle): represent for
Winter/ night. As a wise, calm and smart character,
however he always lose his memories. Fun fact: he is
more like a ghost than a monster as everyone can see
through his body.
47. 47
Assets
The importance
Assets are the elements that cannot be missing from a full design of
any children books. They can be seen as the background, the
environment, the sky, the trees as any other factors surrounding the
main content and characters. In other words, it makes the whole
things become complete and somehow it can be identified as art of
visual storytelling.
In the fifteenth century, one of the most legendary artist of the
world, Leonardo da Vinci had made the following remark “.. For the
more minutely you describe the more you will confine the mind of
the reader, and the more you will keep him from the knowledge of
the thing described. And so it is necessary to draw and to describe.”
(Brain Pickings, 2012). In our understanding from this point, it is
essential to be able to illustrate as much and many of everything as
possible, if an illustrator can do.
Therefore, the book designers must pay attention on every single
detail from the content, style to the layout, typography and
illustrations. The readers, especially young children, seemed to only
focus on the characters and the most significant appearances on
the book as something they could see directly. However, let’s
imagine if the background and all small elements were removed out
of the whole pictures, it could totally ruin all the visual imagination.
According to First Choice Books (n.d.), a good book design should
be able to let the reader get lost and fall into the journey of reading
it. On the other hand, the reader sometimes might forget the
existence of the assets and elements in the book but they would
probably question if they were missing.
The assets of “I’m a Little Monster”
There are two main type of assets for our illustration/ graphic
children book,
● Background and theme (sky, trees, ground and etc..)
● Game elements to be seen with AR technology
Background and theme
The journey of our little monster happened in a whole day from
sunrise until moonrise, morning to night. There would be a bit of
change for every place he arrived such as different types of tree,
some place had rocks and stones and some places have lake and
bushes.
● Morning
● Midday
● Afternoon
● Night
48. 48
Assets
Game elements to be seen with AR technology
When our little monster meets
a new friend, he would choose
one or all three different tasks
from the page on right hand
side in order to play some
games to be able to make
friends with new characters.
Because we targeted young
children, all the games were
quite simple but still fun
enough for them to replay
again and again.
● Meet big monster
#1 There is a tree with many apples. Touch to pluck 3 apples to complete the task and those
apples will fall down on the floor
#2 There is a pond with fish in the water. Touch and hold the fishing rod, then pull it up/left to
get a fish to complete the task
#3 There are 3 bushes. Touch to shake the bush, then the berries will appear on the bush
● Rescued small monster
#1 Climb vines to reach monster
#2 Use sheet found on floor to catch monster, tiny monster jumps
#3 Big monster shakes tree, tiny monster falls, little monster catches
● Helped spooky monster
#1 Shine light in cave
#2 Rattle bushes to see if it falls out
#3 Turn over boulders
49. 49
Finalise the book
First Choice Books (n.d.) states
“a good book design is
something you would never
notice unless it did not exist”.
Our team came up with many
questions such as how our
book would finally look like,
which type and size of fonts to
be used, changed the colour
or not, improve the quality of
illustration or kept them
simple. However, we all
agreed that a good book
design was not all about how
many impressive details it
could have but it was about
the way it interacted with the
reader, guided the audiences
through the journey and
inspired the children to enjoy
the story. In a positive way,
our team hopefully would
bring our book to children that
somehow made them feel lost
in the story and not be aware
of that they were reading
through the pages.
Direct link to our full design of the book: https://files.slack.com/files-pri/T0DFHD134-
F0HU33VPX/book_layout__full_.pdf
50. Augmented Reality: Using Vuforia SDK to access camera and
making custom image target from the book
Game Mechanism
54. 54
● As a user I expect to see a loading screen so that I know what’s happening with the
system.
● As a user I need to see instructions so that I know how to use the app.
● As a user I expect to hear the story read to me so that I can listen.
● As a user I need to read the story so that I can learn how to read.
● As a user I need to know how to play the mini game so that I can complete the task.
● As a user I need to know when I have accomplished the game’s goal so that I can
move on to the next task.
● As a user I expect to have the option to refresh the game so that I can play it again.
● As a user I expect to be able to set the difficulty of the game so that it isn’t too hard
or easy for my child’s age.
● As a user I want to restrict access to the internet to keep my child safe.
As an exercise to mentally walk through
the required functionality of our app, we
created user stories that outlined user
expectations and needs. Conducting this
brief exercise allowed us to suss out the
required user experience before
sketching out our wireframes.
User Stories
55. Our screen flow shows the path a user will take upon opening our
app.
After the splash screen we have the home screen. Users can then
select the parents section, AR book, or eBook. In the parent section,
users can control the difficulty level of the games, turn on and off
audio, or exit the app in order to buy the book or connect with the
app publisher on social media.
Once we had a general idea of the app’s content and flow, we
created low-fidelity wireframes in Illustrator. We then uploaded
them to Invision to view the layout on various phone sizes for
critique. In doing so we were then able to make further design
revisions.
Screenflow
55
56. 56
Splash Screen Our splash screen shows
an image of the main character and not
an arbitrary logo so that young children
can easily perceive which app they just
opened. Supporting our previously
outlined quality of visibility, the
“information is obvious and noticeable.”
Feedback is also provided with the use of
a loading indicator to inform the user of
the state of the system. Although the
initial design included “loading” text
instead of the animation, we wanted to
quickly communicate with young readers.
Wireframes
Home Screen Our app’s home screen
gives the user the choice between using
the app with the physical book or as a
standalone product as an eBook. This was
important as we wanted to give the user
the option of using the app in an inactive
mode, supporting our heuristic of “low
physical effort.”
The screen also includes an unobtrusive
link to a page for parents that doesn’t
compete for the child’s attention.
Seeking AR To let the user know the state
of the system, a “seeking” message is
displayed before the target is scanned.
While testing other AR apps with
potential adult users, a common point of
frustration was the lack of feedback after
launching the app and before the system
picked-up the target.
57. 57
Game Instruction Once the narration of
the page is complete, the user is
prompted with instructions on how to
play the game. Employing the multi-
modality heuristic, this is done with both
a voiceover and text.
Game Success To provide the user with
feedback, a “Good Job!” along with
applause and confetti is splashed across
the screen.
Wireframes
Parent Section A parental section is
included to provide the user with
additional information. From this page
the user can buy the physical book, gain
tips on how to use the app, change the
difficulty setting, and connect with the
company via social media.
Parental Lock Parents expect to wield
some control over what their children can
and cannot access when using apps. The
industry standard seems to be to keep
external links in a protected area. In our
research, this was done by either entering
a birthdate or in one case by solving a
math equation.
Difficulty Setting Incorporating the
heuristic of personalization, the app can
be modified to support the user’s needs.
For example, parents can change the
difficulty level of the games, ranging
from low to medium to high.
58. 58
Splash screen shows the main character
and loading bar to indicate the system’s
status.
User Interface
Three links take the user to the parent
section, the AR book, or ebook. Both
buttons for the AR book and eBook use
an illustration and text so that users of all
ages can discern what each button does.
The eBook’s home and arrow buttons are
transparent when inactive. When it’s time
to turn the page there’s an audio prompt
and the arrow becomes opaque while
pulsing. As the narrator reads, the text is
highlighted yellow so readers can follow
along.
The narration and music controls
toggle off and become grey.
To enter the internet through the app,
the user must enter a date of birth to
verify they are over 18 years of age.
The difficulty of the games are set as
either easy, medium, or hard. The
deselected options are greyed out.
59. 59
User Interface
Left and right arrows give the user control
over which screen they’re currently
viewing.
Greyed out circles with an active white
indicator orients the user by telling them
how many pages there are and which one
they’re viewing.
After testing our initial design we decided
to include a visual walkthrough to explain
how to use the app. First time users are
shown the following screens upon initial
launch of the AR book.
The alignment brackets have a soft glow
and direct the user to scan the target.
After testing with a different style of icon
we added a circle for visibility.
The replay button resets the current AR
game.
60. 60
As we weren’t allowed to directly observe our target audience, the
next best option was to review existing videos and literature about
2-5 year olds ability with smartphones and tablets.
This knowledge would assist us in learning how to design
interaction methods for our audience.
Kabali et al., (2015) study of 350 children revealed that One-quarter
of 2-year-olds do not need any help navigating a mobile media
device, and 60.9% needed help sometimes. Almost half (42.9%) of
4-year-olds never needed help.
Watching videos online such as Tunes, (2010), Jumpfly (2010) and
Raiders2800 (2015) informed us that children's main interaction
method with devices is tapping. Small amounts of dragging is also
shown. The videos informed us that the accuracy of interactions
should not be paramount for young children to successfully interact
with our games.
The concept of affordance introduced to the field of HCI by Don
Norman in 1998 (Jnd.org, n.d.) has changed somewhat for young
children growing up today. As ‘digital natives’ (Prensky, 2001) they
are accustomed to the idea of tapping and swiping on a flat surface
(smartphone or tablet) and to see or hear feedback as a result of
their touch.
SesameWorkshop (2012) best practice report Designing Touch
Tablet Experiences for Preschoolers uses insights from 20 years of
digital platform testing and 50+ touch screen studies to make the
following recommendations:
Tap: Tap is the most intuitive and foundational touch interaction for
children.
Draw/Move Finger: Sometimes they have a hard time not lifting
their finger, so partial completion should be supported
Swipe: Swiping is very intuitive if visual indications of where to
swipe are provided. In some instances it is recommended to
consider employing dual functionality for swipe and tap of an
arrow.
Drag: Children can touch an object and drag it to a new location,
but again, have difficulty with finger-on-screen continuity.
Slide: Children are less familiar with on-screen sliders than they are
with dragging. If a game requires a child to use a slider, it must be
very explicit about how to do so (e.g., VO, strong visual indication of
end point, a large hotspot, supportive/explicit highlighting).
Interaction design
Source: Touch Gestures
61. 61
3D & Animation
3D designs
It could not be denied that
there was a big gap from
making the 2D illustrations to
creating the 3D models of
them. As stated on the first line
of the article from Creative
Bloq (2011), our team
recognised the value of
understanding our working
restrictions and limitations of
capacity when starting to work
in 3D. In addition, we also
needed to set a good plans and
time management strategy to
prepare for any unexpected
incidents.
Characters
The task of building 3D characters that looked like our illustrations from the book seemed to not be
difficult for team members who had experience in 3D. However, we still met a lot of challenges when
making the models in a proper way for creating the animation and AR games. For examples, rigging the
characters in an accurate way to animate their movements without breaking the shapes of them or
having the right scale for game assets to pop-up on screen of smartphones or tablets.
The process of making our 3D characters was very technical and we believed it would be better to briefly
show the results and our final outcomes in the report rather than describe everything. As our team chose
Autodesk Maya 2016 as the main tool to work on the 3D part of our project, we imported the illustration
files of our characters into the software and started building 3D model of it based on our past experience
and knowledge. We focused on making the characters as similar as possible to how they look on the 2D
illustrations in our book. Below here is our collection of characters for the book.
● Main character/ Our little Monster ● Big monster
● Spooky monster● Small monster
62. 62
3D & Animation
Game 1 – Picking fruit from a tree
There is a tree with many apples. Touch to
pluck 3 apples to complete the task and
those apples will fall down on the floor
Game 2 - Fishing
There is a pond with fish in the water.
Touch and hold the fishing rod, then pull it
up/left to get a fish to complete the task
Game 3 – Shaking berries from a bush
There are 3 bushes. Touch to shake the
bush, then the berries will appear on the
bush
Game Assets
Even though our team had finished the whole illustration book, we acknowledged that we would not have enough time to make all AR games
for the book. Therefore, we only focused on completing the assets for the first game set when our main character had the chance to meet his
first friend, big monster.
63. 63
3D & Animation
Animation
All of our characters have
been built in the original
pose not only because we
wanted them to look similar
to the 2D illustrations of the
book but also for the
purpose of animating them
easier. Due to the short
amount of time available to
finish our project, we also
decided to only focus on
creating the animation for
our main character which
would be shown on the cover
page and first/ introduction
page of himself.
Cover page
A friendly greeting from our main character
Our team fully understood the value of the first impression and
tried to make our little monster engage with his audiences as
much as possible through a lot of dancing moves (e.g. jumping,
spinning, etc..).
Youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqZRfZ3XzaQ
Introduction page
The story began, main character started looking for his friend
Our little monster would do some walk cycle on the spot but not
move anywhere at all because we didn’t want him to disappear
from the screen. He also looked confused because he was seeking
for his friends, the other monsters.
Youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhNbx8VLnlc
64. 64
App Icon
Apple couldn’t have said it better when it comes to designing your own app icon.
“Every app needs a beautiful, memorable app icon that attracts people in the App Store and
stands out on their Home screen” (Developer.apple.com, n.d..)
Using an app template provided by http://appicontemplate.com/ios8/ we created two
versions for the design of the app.
Final choice
As a group we decided to go with version two to keep an instant connection with the content.
Allowing children and parents who use the app to quickly access the app without any queries.
“People are better at recognizing things they have previously experienced than they are at
recalling those things from memory.” (Toxboe, A.)
Anyone who has seen or previously bought the book outside of the app store is able make an
instant connection with the app. Easily recognizing the cover of the book from memory or
any other marketing material alongside it.
Option One
Inspired by numerous
icons on the apple market.
Most icons keep a simple
and clean approach to
their icon. Keeping to a
modern art style of this
era.
Option Two
Using an image derived
from the cover of the book
along with the home
screen of the app. This
allows an instant
connection for the user
between the app and the
product to make sure
there is no confusion.
Place your screenshot here
65. 65
Sound
Sound has been used in two ways throughout our app
● To create a relaxing, immersive experience
● To provide feedback when users are playing a game
Royalty Free Sounds
Background music (New day song) : We use this music throughout our
mini games. The music is in the kid song category that we think it is merry
song for strolling in our book story.
(from: http://www.orangefreesounds.com)
Touching sound (Pop sound) : We use the “Pop” sound effect for all
interactive objects including buttons. It will be noticed by players when
their touching is active. This sound is from popping bubble and kids like
bubbles.
(from: http://www.freesfx.co.uk)
Good Job sound (Grunt birthday party sound effect) : Used to congrats
players when they complete the mini games. It will make players feel
good when they finish the game and cheer them on for the next games.
Shaking bush sound : This sound effect is the same sound as shaking
bushes in real life. It is the special sound effect which is added later to
help players notice that they are interacting with the bushes.
(from: http://www.freesfx.co.uk)
66. 66
Who We’re Designing For
Who is our product for?
Children between the ages of 2-5 years
old.
What interests are we targeting?
● Monsters
● Friendship
● Smartphone games
What are the cognitive, physical, and
technical skills of the kids we’re designing
for?
● Adept at tapping
● Fine motor skills still developing
● Don’t understand the concept of
fly-out menus
What emotions or responses are we
hoping to evoke?
● Problem solving
● Not judging based on appearance
● Making friends
● Getting along with others who are
different
What do parents expect from our design?
● Educational
● Involves reading
● Not just gameplay
● Make story-time fun
How do we envision kids using our
product?
● With a parent or caregiver
What We’re Designing
What channels fit our design?
● Mobile
● Traditional hardcover and
paperback books
What are the main tasks or activities kids
will be able to perform?
● Listening to a story
● Playing games
How will it work? What features and
functionality will it include?
Kids will receive instructions about each
page’s objective from their caregiver
What’s the overall narrative of our
design?
A journey of friendship
Navigation and Wayfinding
How will kids move and progress through
our design?
● Read each page of the book
● Discover the problem in the
physical book
● Solve the problem in the game
● Receive congratulations
● Move on to the next scenario
How will they get back to the starting
point?
● Refresh button
● Reread the book
How will they know where they are in the
app at any given time?
● Music
● Narration game prompt
● Success message
● Keep going message
● UI elements
Design Summary
67. 67
Design Patterns
How does our design adapt to our target age group?
● Bottom edge of screen is clear of elements that could accidentally be tapped
● Advanced settings are kept in the parent section
Will our users understand and be able to use the icons and symbols in our pattern library?
● House icon is found in most children’s apps
● Replay icon is familiar to our age range
How are we using audio?
● Narration is cued upon initial scan
● Game directions are given visually and through audio
● Success and failure messages
● Prompts to turn the page
Design Summary
69. 69
Development
The game is developed for interacting with children’s book using Unity3D
and Vuforia SDK. The images in the book are used to make the target
image. Each part of the story contains 3 mini games. The games have the
same gameplay style which is touching only once to interact with the
objects in game and collecting 3 items to complete each game. Each mini
games has its own object set which are the tree with apple, the pond with
fish and the bushes with berries. Each object has its own exclusive
component such as Rigibody (Physics), Collider type, etc.
70. 70
Prototype v1.0
Approach
We opted to create a Minimal
Viable Product since “If you
focus on the minimal viable
product, it means you get the
bare minimum into the hands
of customers and start
learning from their real
behaviour”
(Ratcliffe and McNeill, 2012)
Demo
Click here to play a video of
the first prototype iteration.
71. 71
Approach and
purpose
With limited access to representative
users, we wanted to first acquire feedback
from a broader audience as a form of
quality assurance. Our approach was to
test early and test often so that we could
iteratively improve the design.
Borrowing from the agile methodology we
aimed to have “working software over
comprehensive documentation” so that
we could focus on “responding to change
over following a plan” (Scrumalliance.org,
2001).
Deviating from Nielsen’s (2000) principle
that iterative usability testing with five
users will uncover 85% of usability
problems, we chose to run each round of
tests with three participants. We chose to
do this so that our Game Programmer
could implement incremental
improvements and so that we could
increase the speed of each iteration, in-
line with lean startup principles (Ries,
2009).
What we wanted
to learn
● If participants had ever played
with similar apps and how ours
compared for ease of use,
enjoyment and engagement
● If participants could understand
the aim of the game
● If participants found the app
intuitive to use
● How easy they found the physical
aspects of the interaction
● If participants found the app easy
to learn
User testing plan
Research
questions
Impediments
Whilst planning our user testing we were
informed that we would not be able to
obtain ethical clearance as the module this
project is conducted under is not a final
major project. As a result we were not
allowed to formally test or observe
children.
Do users understand how to
interact with the AR books?
Do users feel engaged when
interacting with the AR book?
72. 72
Tasks we wanted participants to achieve
1. Open app
2. Find target marker
3. Understand how to play a game (what are the interactions)
4. Play a game per page successfully
5. Understand that they have successfully played the game (win)
6. Understand how they may play a game again
7. Understand how the game relates to the story
Example prompt questions
● Where do you think you would need to aim the smartphone in order to play the
game?
● How do you think you’d know when you have finished the game?
● Can you help the monster find some food to eat?
Protocol
After greeting the participants and
thanking them for their time we begun
with some warm up questions to find out
if they had any prior knowledge or
experience of AR technology.
We informed the participants that we
wanted to observe them using a
prototype for an Augmented Reality
children’s book, and were unlikely to need
more than 15 minutes of their time.
Before starting the test, we also informed
them that we would be making notes
and/or recording them so that we could
use the insights to further improve the
product.
User testing plan
73. 73
Major findings
Participant LM01 noticed the stars around
each AR object in the game but was not
sure what they indicated, and thought
they were some sort of decoration.
LM02 expected that the big monster
would be interactive.
LM01, LM02 and LM03 were unsure if
they had completed a game.
LM01 appreciated seeing on screen that
they were doing a good job in game 1, but
were not sure why they were doing a good
job in game 2 and 3, as they did not
understand the goal of these games.
Participant LM01, LM02, and LM03 also
mentioned that they were quickly able to
find the first game but did not realise that
there were more games on the page until
prompted.
Game by game results
Game 1 – Picking fruit from a tree
This game was relatively straightforward for all participants. However, LM01 and LM02 tried
to pick all fruit from the tree even though the game was only designed to get the user to
pick 3 pieces.
After picking all the fruit from the front of the tree, they then tried to get the fruit from the
back of the tree also, even though they were mostly obscured. This resulted in lots of
twisting with the iPhone in order to try and see the other side of the tree.
Game 2 – Fishing
All participant attempted to tap on the fish instead of the fishing pole, and expressed
uncertainty about what the interactions should have been. They were not sure what the
completion state of the game was and expressed feelings of confusion and frustration.
Game 3 – Shaking berries from a bush
This was the most confusing game for all participant as when they tapped on the bush, they
did not see immediate feedback like they had received with game 1.
By game 3 the participants were accustomed to looking for the star shapes on the page to
get an idea of what the content of the game was. Participant LM01 commented “purple
grapes” before beginning to play the game. I believe they were then surprised that they
didn’t see purple grapes in the style of the target in the game.
User testing prototype 1.0
74. 74
Major findings
We will need to test to see what position
stories are read at, as the participant in
this case had the book on his lap, and
therefore saw a top down view of the AR
which wasn’t a good viewing experience
for game 1.
Finally, either the game target or game
elements will need to be revised so that
they match, meeting the user's
expectations.
Game by game observations
Game 1 – Picking fruit from a tree
The positioning of the fruit in game 1 will need to be looked into so that the user doesn’t
spend lots of time trying to tap every last fruit. Perhaps, we should put only 3 fruit on the
tree.
Game 2 – Fishing
Game 2 will need more work so that the user understands its aim, same for game 3.
The aim of game 2 could be revised so that the user has to catch all the fish in the pond.
They could do this by tapping on the moving fish, and then the fishing rod goes to meet the
fish and pulls it in.
Game 3 – Shaking berries from a bush
The game play for game 3 will need to be revised so that the user doesn’t get frustrated.
Perhaps the interaction on this page should be changed to a swipe if we are likely to use
other gestures throughout the book. This will “warm up” the user to other modes of
interaction early on, so that they don’t believe every game should be tapped.
Observations - user testing prototype 1.0
I’m not sure
what it’s meant
to do.
LM01
I like the music.
LM04
I’ve still got an
apple on there,
how do I get it
off?
LM02
What am I
supposed to do?
LM02
Doesn’t he
move?
LM03
75. 75
Iteration towards Prototype v1.1
● Add menu scene which contains home page and instruction before start using Augmented
Reality
● Add home button for mini games
● Add overlay frame for focusing area
● Update new UI graphics for mini games
● Add progress bar for 2nd and 3rd game
● Add confetti and sound effect when complete the game
● Add sound effect when interact with buttons and objects
● Add arrow to guide the players
● Renew 2nd game’s gameplay (changed from “touching fishing rod to get fish” to “touch the fish
to collect them directly”)
● Change shaking direction for bushes in 3rd game
● Expand collision range for fish and bushes
● Add app’s icon
76. 76
Major findings
Participants quickly moved on If no
immediate feedback was received when
they attempted to interact with the 3D
objects. Instead they believed that the 3D
objects should only be observed, not
interacted with
It was still unclear to participants how to
interact with game 3. This was
demonstrated when participants LM04
and LM05 both attempted to swipe on the
bush to shake it.
Game by game results
Game 1 – Picking fruit from a tree
The user hovered the device above the 3D tree and kept moving moving the device up and
down. It appeared as though the angle of the model caused some confusion. With guidance
the user began picking the apple, but after each instance would say “Did something,” to
express their confusion.
Game 2 – Fishing
Upon completing the game and receiving the “Good Job” feedback the user said, “So that
means that I’ve caught the fish.” Although the user understood once the game was
completed we realized that it’d be ideal to somehow give the user feedback during
gameplay
Game 3 – Shaking berries from a bush
User began flicking the bushes after knocking a few berries off of each bush. She exclaimed
“It doesn’t say good job yet,” then “What have I done,” upon receiving the good job
message
User testing prototype 1.1
77. 77
Major findings
In the second round of testing some of the
objectives were clearer, but not all, so we
iterated again to make it more intuitive.
We informally tested with a 5 year old
(LM06). He understood the game. But
there was no-one reading with him so he
didn’t get the story.
Participant LM06 also easily found the
reset button without any prompted and
was able to replay games without needing
moderator assistance.
Game by game observations
Game 1 – Picking fruit from a tree
Participant LM05 user hovered the device above the 3D tree and kept moving moving the
device up and down. It appeared as though the angle of the model caused some confusion.
With guidance the user began picking the apple, but after each instance would say “Did
something,” to express their confusion.
Game 2 – Fishing
Upon completing the game and receiving the “Good Job” feedback participant LM05 said,
“So that means that I’ve caught the fish.” Although the user understood once the game was
completed we realized that it’d be ideal to somehow give the user feedback during
gameplay.
Game 3 – Shaking berries from a bush
Participant LM05 began flicking the bushes after knocking a few berries off of each bush.
She exclaimed “It doesn’t say good job yet,” then “What have I done,” upon receiving the
good job message.
Observations - user testing prototype 1.1
I like the music,
it’s good.
LM06
I don’t know
what it’s doing.
LM06
78. 78
Iteration towards Final Prototype
● Replace loading screen with loading bar
● Replace home screen and link to AR book and eBook
● Add new app walkthrough screens
● Add eBook example screen
● Replace UI icons
79. 79
User Experience Design
● AR allows you to expand the UI beyond the screen.
● Children and adults experience design differently.
Interactivity
● Certain shapes don’t track well in AR.
● Required user input isn’t always obvious.
Animation
● Moving the character too much results in a broken rig.
Gamification
● Story design is integral to the overall experience.
● Player needs constant progress feedback.
Lessons Learned
80. 80
Summary video
We created a summary video
to tell our story and show off
our work. The script was
created by Mesha and the
video was shot and edited by
Anna-Kay.
82. 82
Process
The project ran smoothly although we had other commitments outside of the module and
only saw each other once per week. We implemented effective communications tools such
as Slack and weekly tasks list that were connected to a calendar integrated with Slack. As a
result we all knew what was upcoming and what we had to do. It was all very transparent.
We kept our blog updated and informed each other what we were planning to research,
write about and informed each other when we had posted new material to the blog.
Initially our team was assigned a third UX designer, however they did not attend the course,
resulting in the work they would have been responsible for being spread amongst the team.
For example Keith wrote the story, Mesha took on a greater responsibility for the competitor
analysis and Anna-Kay took responsibility for the user testing.
In November 2015 we were again assigned a third UXer to our team, however due to
personal difficulties they were not able to contribute to any of the project work.
Consequently the user testing was reassigned to Anna-Kay.
Limitations
At the outset of the project we were unaware that we would not be able conduct user
testing with our target audience - children. We felt that not being able to test with these
users hindered our ability to gain a full understanding of the product-market fit (Olsen,
2015) for I’m a Little Monster.
Assumed usability issues such as a potential problem with the reading angle could not be
validated without observing parents and children interacting with the book. Therefore we
had to make assumptions about its impact and make decisions about which issues we would
prioritise to address.
Discussion
84. 84
The future possibilities for AR children’s books
With two-thirds of the UK population owning a smartphone (Media.ofcom.org.uk, 2015),
half of all households owning a tablet (Mintel.com, 2014) and their ever increasing use by
young children, the possibilities to make AR books accessible via smartphones and tablets
has increased exponentially over the last few years. The barriers in uptake are therefore the
knowledge that AR books exist, the effectiveness of their content and according to Gartner.
com (2015) the fact that AR technology is in the trough of disillusionment.
Studies such as Martínez et al., (2014) state that the development of AR books and games
are dominated by technologists rather than writers or educators. It is important that there is
unification between how well it works technically and how attractive the story and the
visuals are for the users so that they may form a delightful engaging overall user experience.
With the increased capabilities of computers and more advanced and complex techniques
being supported, Tangible User Interfaces (TUI) where users can interact with the virtual
object in the physical world, could likely be the breakthrough for AR in children’s books, with
users being able to engage in a tactile “experience” of the story.
Looking to future technologies and interfaces the development of modern Head Mounted
Displays such as Google Glass would seem to be a perfect fit for augmented reality books,
however the take-up of such technology has been slow. Many developers, prompted by the
lack of market take-up have pushed back the development of consumer applications and
have instead focused on business use cases (Tech2, 2014).
“Contact Lenses” worn in the eye developed in 2011 (Goncharuk, 2012) does not at this
time seem appropriate for use with young children.
...
Conclusion
85. 85
Achievements against our goals
Get young children excited about reading
Feedback from parents revealed that a book with “more” was something they felt their
children would want to come back to time and again. Particularly if it were part of a series
where they could choose different stories and games.
Make reading fun and interactive
Parents also stated that the book and app combination of I’m a Little Monster would add a
new dimension for collaboration to the story time experience that their young children
would enjoy. After some iteration users could easily understand how to interact with game
one and two. Game three proved the most troublesome but we are confident that another
round of user testing will show that users have an improved understanding of the game play
as a result of our last round of iterations.
Use technology to improve early years literacy
It is a concern that I’m a little Monster may prove a distraction for the user as they may get
enthralled in the game and forget about the associated story. We would like to assess this
through formal user testing.
Enhance the physical book rather than replace it
Unlike many academic studies, we have devoted equal attention to the design of the book
as we have to the games. Working in a mixed disciplinary team meant that our skills and
interests were varied enough to create industry quality outputs for the graphic design, user
experience, 3D design and game programming elements of our product.
Conclusion
86. 86
Validation
We are aware that the ‘thrill of the new’ can be captivating for the audience for a short time,
but could quickly be superseded by the next new thing. Therefore we would’ve liked the
opportunity to test our hypothesis that creating an Augmented Reality Book for 2-5 year
olds will achieve an increase in their positive attitude towards literacy. This could be tested
using a longitudinal study where parents would report whether their children spends more
time reading for pleasure.
The future of I’m a Little Monster
We’ve received positive feedback from our peers and our target market and plan to release
a demo version in the app store. Its popularity will determine whether we choose to develop
the full suite of games for the book.
...
Conclusion
88. 88
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