O'Reilly's Tools of Change blog reported today on a prototype e-reader, invented by reseraches from Berkeley and the University of Maryland, which further resembles a book. Not only does it have two screens--like a recto and a verso--but it allows you to detach the screens to better compare two different documents or you can just fold one screen behind the other. TOC even has a video of this prototype on their site, which has to be viewed to be believed.
What this prototype is trying to do, as explained by the YouTube video, is better mimic reading habits in an e-reader. With the two screens, it lets you better view more content, flip better, see an image across a spread, and more.
With the unbelievable leaps and bounds in iphone technology, I am sure that eventually "viewing" habits will overlap "reading" ones. For instance, the OnlineMediaCultist just blogged about how the next step will be Princess Leia popping out of your phone. As the video on his post demonstrates, this is possible nowadays with the "holo" text messaging feature of the iphone.
So will e-readers eventually have 3-d art that pops out at you? Will they have videos embedded into them as well? Will you be able to "record" comments instead of writing them? The possibilities seem limitless--or at least limited to the inventors' imaginations--given how far we've advanced.
But how will this affect production? We're all concerned with content being xml-ready so that it can be available for digital, whether online or via e-reader. What more will be necessary to get it "multi-media" ready? And whatever it will take, will have to start with editorial during the development and planning stage.
Any thoughts?
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