Bernd Lintermann, Nikolaus Völzow

While the material book as sole bearer of textual information is increasingly being supplanted by the Internet and other electronic forms of publishing, the experience of digital reading is moving in the opposite direction: in the world of computer, computer network, and hypertext at first the book was completely transferred into an electronic format. Over the course of the development of electronic publications, however, they have gradually resumed making metaphorical reference to the book form and systematically implementing the book metaphor in software. In the latest phase, the book as an electronic device has come to imitate the physical and media characteristics of the traditional codex.

The reading stations of »Three Phases of Digitalization« represent the next step in this shift: a camera mounted above the reading surface records a book lying there, the pages of which are empty save for page numbers. A projection made of pure white light is located in front of the observer. When viewed through a polarization filter, an image becomes visible, showing the digitally reconstructed book. Through augmented reality technology, the empty pages of the real books are filled with digital content in the projection. The book is an interface.

Concept: Bernd Lintermann, Nikolaus Völzow
Software development: Nikolaus Völzow
Book design: Jan Zappe
Design: Matthias Gommel
Book design: Jan Zappe
Technical collaboration: Jan Gerigk, Manfred Hauffen
Inspired by: Peter Weibel