designed by push pop press and melcher media, the digital version of al gore’s ‘our choice’ redefines the experience of a book with its truly interactive multimedia content

newly founded push pop press  has just released the first digital book created through its innovative publishing platform, currently in beta with select clients. backed by rodale inc. and featuring additional content by melcher media, the ‘our choice ‘ application is an interactive digital version of al gore’s book ‘our choice: a plan to solve the climate crisis’.

available for the iPad and iPhone, the nineteen-chapter book expands the possibilities of the digital form, combining truly interactive and multimedia content with an intuitive touch interface. lacking any kind of control panel, navigation through the book is controlled exclusively through common touch gestures, scrolling, pinching, and moving onscreen content.

in this TED talk, mike matas of push pop press walks through the features of the digital book

users can pan through a visual table of contents or scroll directly through the book, wherein any image, chart, video, or other multimedia within the pages can be picked up and ‘unfolded’ to be maximized.  aglobe icon docked on each image can be clicked to depict the photograph’s location on an interactive map, and some pictures expand to depict related content or offer audio explanation.

‘our choice’ includes over an hour of documentary footage, which facilitates exploration by allowing that videos continue to be seamlessly played directly within the pages, even when switching between a maximized or page view of the material.

interactive digital books by push pop press - 2 the book is available for iPhone and iPad

most innovatively for the book, the interactive infographics permit users to zoom in, reorder, and otherwise explore relevant data. for example, in a US map depicting the possibilities for wind power or solar or geothermal energy, viewers can slide their finger along particular states or regions to view a popup with detailed data about that area. an animated simulation of wind energy encourages readers to blow into their device’s microphone, generating the ‘wind’ that propels the turbine, which readers can then watch flow into a house as electrical energy.

in general, the digital book makes use of not only audiovisual displays, but also sensory input from the device, including the accelerometer and microphone, to enrich the provided content in a hands-on manner.

‘when iPad launched, we asked ourselves the question: ‘what would happen if we reimagined the book?‘ reflects kimon tsinteris, cofounder of push pop press. president of melcher media charles melcher adds, ‘from the perspective of merging form and content into an interactive, kinetic learning experience, […] the app lets the reader visualize and absorb information in a completely new way.’

interactive digital books by push pop press - 3 infographics and visual simulations offer truly interactive capabilities

interactive digital books by push pop press - 4 embedded images, infographics, and videos can be easily expanded and interacted with

the app is available from the iTunes app store, for a limited time introductory price of 4.99USD. with its publishing platform currently in beta to a small group of private clients, push pop press is already working on the release of additional books in the future.al gore describes and demos the digital book

via huffington post