How can we use augmented reality to increase sales in print books?

Augmented reality is one of the latest and most successful technological inventions and it can turn any plane image into a magic show. This new creation of the digital era uses a camera with sensors to transform a target picture into moving action. Unlike virtual reality, it does not replace the physical object, it completes it.

You might think that this is a new threat to the print industries that have suffered in the past years due to the digitalization of information, but it’s all the opposite. Like I said, for augmented reality to work, a camera as well as a trigger image is compulsory-just like the toothbrush and the toothpaste, having just one is useless. Therefore, consumers need to download an AR app, but they also have to obtain the target image and, of course, they will choose the image that provides them with the best 3D experience.

Why wouldn’t it be your book they buy? That trigger image can be any piece of paper, including your printed books. You start by adding the right parameters to the pages, and then you create the digital overlay and synchronize it with the pages. Then, make sure your marketing clearly states that your print books are available with augmented reality. You will be ahead of your classical print book competitors and you might get new customers, attracted by the innovation.

Augmented reality can best help selling children’s books, because children’s ability to focus on a static object is lower than adults, so they need movement and action to captivate them. What AR does is that it overlays one or several 3D moving objects onto the page that is scanned. They can be human characters, animals, objects, letters- just about anything; the app can also, make them talk, sing or just play background noises and music.

If, in the case of traditional print books, children might get bored and prefer to watch a new cartoon instead of reading a new book, it will definitely not be the case with AR books. They offer the same dynamic as cartoons, with the advantage of being available anytime you turn on the app. If before, a kid would say “I want a new toy”, after trying once, he will say “I want a new book”- and since the app stays the same, what the parents will buy is your print book, the one that makes the magic possible.