Templar is to launch an 'augmented reality' tool to help promote a new Dragonology title this autumn. The facility will enable readers to see a moving 3D image of a dragon illustrated in the new book, Dr Drake's Comprehensive Compendium of Dragonology. Templar m.d. Amanda Wood said: "We are first and foremost publishers but we need to explore this new technology and find ways to use it to get children and young people back to the book."
Dr Drake's Comprehensive Compendium of Dragonology will guide readers to a dedicated web page that will explain the technology and offer plug-in software. This download will enable readers to hold a specific page up to an active webcam and see a 3D image of a dragon, illustrated on that page, materialize in 3D on their computer screen, awaken and roar.
The 3D virtual dragon has been developed for Templar by Total Immersion, a French software developer. Wood said: "The new Ology book is not a core title and we were looking for something that would give it the 'wow' factor. Judging by the reactions of children so far, it does just that."
She added: "A new extension of this technology is that you can interact with the image so there is educational as well as entertainment potential for it. We believe that there is the potential for the technology to drive a book idea in itself, it's capable of being more than a gimmick."