The Future of Literature: Interactive eReading with Nook for iPhone

Traditional books are becoming an outdated form of entertainment. Sure, the stories at the core of the reading experience have never stopped being engaging, but publishers also have to understand it is not the pioneer times anymore. People now have access to interactive forms of media such as the Internet and video games, not to mention animated and exciting forms of entertainment like TV and movies. The method by which a traditional book’s story is delivered – silent page skimming that involves no animation or interactivity – just does not cut it anymore when it comes to grabbing our attention. Largely in order to counter this fact, the “excitement” factor of reading books has been ramped up. Many publishers are utilizing the iPhone’s cutting edge graphics card and touch sensor technologies in combination with its ability to display eBooks in order to create an interactive and customizable reading experience. The list below details several of the biggest ways in which Nook’s app for iPhone is making reading interactive.

• Get the Picture – Setting really is one of the most important elements of a story. If the setting is dreary or nondescript, it can rub off on the characters and the plot itself, making the reading experience unenjoyable. By including sweeping and panoramic depictions of the setting that the reader can interact with within the book, illustrators and publishers have found a way to make the setting an even clearer and more colorful presence than even the best writing can manage. With an incredibly vivid backdrop that has been effectively molded into the reader’s mind, the story’s other elements will be all the more impactful.

• Self-Testing – Many publishers producing interactive eBooks for Nook include the option for the reader to test his own recollection of what he has just read by incorporating elective quizzes throughout the book. You may feel that this is silly if you are reading for pleasure, but it is actually a great way to make sure you are fully understanding the story and really getting every penny’s worth out of your purchase. Another great use for this feature is that students can make sure they are understanding the concepts presented when reading one of the many interactive textbooks available on the Nook store.

• Location-Based Reading – Because all iPhones have built-in GPS, your location can be used to change the content you read accordingly. The most obvious use of this is in electronic travel guides, which can adjust to guiding you around your local vicinity, but the feature can also be used in other creative ways, including the altering of locations mentioned in a book to correspond with places that would be relatable to the reader.

• Moving Pictures – Unlike the other entries on this list, interactive eBooks’ abilities to include moving illustrations doesn’t actually add to the book’s plot – it is just meant to add to the excitement. Page after page of unanimated black and white cannot hold our shortened 21^st century attention spans, and that is a big part of why books are not nearly as popular as they once were. With the full color, high definition, fluidly animated illustrations that the iPhone’s display allows, as well as the possibility to interact with the illustration that Nook allows, books take on a life that, under previous technology, they could not.
• Interactive Demonstrations – Using the same technology as the moving pictures touched on above, book illustrators can fill you in on complex procedures much more easily than they can using words. This may be through use of an animated infographic or a short video, and it is especially useful in how-to books, mystery novels, and long, confusing stories.

• Seeing is Believing – Sometimes, being told about how something works is just not enough to get us to truly believe it. Sure, reading about the method a character in a book used to solve a problem might get us to acknowledge and accept the solution, but an actual mini-game built into the page where we can recreate the steps ourselves will really get us to internalize the solution. Not only is putting yourself in the character’s shoes through interactivity fun, but it also helps us empathize with the character, becoming more invested in the plot and increasing reading satisfaction.

Having a give-and-take experience when you read a book instead of just being talked at adds an exciting element to reading, and interactivity truly is the future of literature. Out of the best reading apps for iPhone, Nook was the best at presenting readers with an enjoyable interactive eReading experience. The app’s crystal clear reading display and the fact that there are many interactive titles available on the Nook store have convinced readers everywhere that it is the most thrilling eReader app out there.