The Books & Print Sandbox Will Explore the Future of the Book

Cool projects/research ahead!
The Books & Print Sandbox is a UK-based project that is being run by REACT, “one of four UK knowledge exchange hubs for the creative economy.”

What is the Books & Print Sandbox?

From the Books & Print Web Site:

Books & Print Sandbox is supporting eight ground-breaking collaborations between creative economy partners and academic researchers to explore Books and Print as historical, contemporary or future phenomena

The project also hopes to, “develop new digital products and experiences for a publishing industry at a critical stage in its history.”
Projects will run from today (Jan. 9, 2013) until the end of March.
From The Literary Platform:

Each collaboration is set to receive AHRC funding of £50,000 for the academic partner, including up to £10,000 to the Creative Economy partner and will be developed at the Pervasive Media Studio, Watershed, Bristol.

The Projects

Eight commissions were announced today.

Jekyll 2.0 by SlingShot and Anthony Mandal is a pervasive media adaptation of the novel for the age of the bio-hacker that will use readers’ bio-data to shape a live game experience. Click here to find out more.
Writer On The Train by Fabrizio Nevola, Agant and James Attlee will use the linear space of the Bristol to London mainline, utilising smart phones and GPS to deliver a new literary form that will respond to the reader’s journey in real time. Click here to read more.
‘these pages fall like ash’ by Tom Abba and Circumstance will work together with leading authors Nick Harkaway and Neil Gaiman to invite an audience to participate in a digital-first narrative experience where they can alter a story, challenging traditional publishing norms. Click here to read more about this project.
The Next Time(line) by Amblr and Bradley Stephens will work with three classic literary texts to create a dynamic and malleable timeline for the digital world using data visualization and offering much more than its paper counterpart. Click here to read more.
Book Kernel by Hodcha and Alexis Nuselovici will explore event-based publishing. Experimenting with a live poetry reading in Swansea, Book Kernel will allow audiences to curate and print a personal memento of the event, incorporating selected content and social media. Click here to read more about this project.
The Secret Lives of Books by Guerilla Dance Project and Tom Mitchell will transform a quiet workspace at the new Library of Birmingham into a beautiful interactive platform that visualizes the unexploited data sets of our public libraries. Click here to read more.
Digitising The Dollar Princess by Nicola Thomas and Bow Software will break new digital ground in the genre of biography to create a compelling non-linear reading experience exploring the story of Lady Curzon of Kedleston. Click here to read more about about this project
‘Little j’ Hyper Local News by Justin Lewis and Behaviour tackles the problem of how to create a digital model for collecting local news content using behavioural psychology to explore how to inspire local people to become citizen journalists in an age where local reporting is in decline. Click here to read more about this project.

Follow the Progress of Each Project via Their Blog
Learn More About the Sandbox
Books & Print is REACT’s second sandbox.

Filed under: Data Files, Funding, Journal Articles, Libraries, News, Public Libraries, Publishing