Google seeks patent to add "triggered sounds" to e-books

[TimW]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

I love the smell of burning books in the morning. It smells like... victory

It's very intoxicating, especially if the books are printed on hemp paper.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by Alexander Turcic

The concept is simple enough that we wouldn't be surprised to find it in future reading apps.

And so it deserves a patent because?

[Alexander Turcic]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

And so it deserves a patent because?

I didn't say that it would deserve a patent.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by TimW

It's very intoxicating, especially if the books are printed on hemp paper.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by j.p.s

And so it deserves a patent because?

Complexity is not a patent requirement. Just novel and non-obvious.
Some of the best and most deserving ideas are simple.

Originally Posted by steven522

Listening to Audiobooks, yes. Any extra "low volume" background music and/or sound effects that do not drown out the narrator do help you get into the story. However, this is an already auditory experience.

As it happens, there is another recent thread here on sound effects in audio books, and many do not like them there either.
I'm among them. For the record, this proposed sound effect thing seems like a horrible idea, to me personally.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

I love the smell of burning books in the morning. It smells like... victory

Originally Posted by TimW

It's very intoxicating, especially if the books are printed on hemp paper.

That's next year, when they add the patent for 'inhale-o-sense' book experience enhancement. Not just hemp, but you can smell Tara burning, and get a close-up whiff of Buck's wet fur.
And you can smell what it's like to be near Jack Reacher when he hasn't changed his Goodwill store clothes in a week.

[j.p.s]

Originally Posted by ApK

Complexity is not a patent requirement. Just novel and non-obvious.
Some of the best and most deserving ideas are simple.

Ideas are plentiful. Practical implementations are harder to come by.

[anacreon]

Originally Posted by ApK

That's next year, when they add the patent for 'inhale-o-sense' book experience enhancement. Not just hemp, but you can smell Tara burning, and get a close-up whiff of Buck's wet fur.
And you can smell what it's like to be near Jack Reacher when he hasn't changed his Goodwill store clothes in a week.

Well, years ago I participated in the reading committee of a children's books magazine, and I had to "read" a children's picture book with scratch and sniff pads - and was really queasy at the end (synthetic strawberry then banana then whatever...).

[Istvan diVega]

Considerably worse than useless for me personally, but if there's a market for it then by all means. At least as long as I can still buy the book in question in an ordinary version and don't have to buy one that's "enhanced" both in terms of features and, inevitably, price.

[glnnjnsn]

Am I the only one whose thoughts first turned to (young) children's books? It seems like a great idea, for example, to have cattle lowing in the background while the book (presumably being read by the parent) talks about cows.

It could also be useful for educational books too - engaging learners with aural as well as visual cues would probably help with understanding and retention. A book on music theory or music history with examples being played in the background could probably make use of this.

I don't know as I would ever personally encounter/use this technology, but it still seems like a good idea. Just because the enhancement is available, doesn't mean that it will see widespread use.

Originally Posted by DrNefario

Well, let's hope they get the patent and never let anyone use it.

LOL! I would much prefer a standard eBook format rather than another special one--we have too many of those. Besides, I don't see any Google reader devices being sold so who would even use this format? No one will won't to pay for the licensing, so established bookstores like Sony, B&N, Amazon, etc. would turn up their noses to it. Let's hope this patent and idea dies a horrible death.

[meeera]

Originally Posted by glnnjnsn

Am I the only one whose thoughts first turned to (young) children's books? It seems like a great idea, for example, to have cattle lowing in the background while the book (presumably being read by the parent) talks about cows.

It could also be useful for educational books too - engaging learners with aural as well as visual cues would probably help with understanding and retention.

There are already "enhanced" ebooks for children with audio features. Unfortunately, at least some types of enhanced ebooks have been shown to hamper retention of the narrative, rather than improve it.

http://www.theguardian.com/books/201...d-for-children

"Enhanced ebooks were found to distract children from the story, and their bells and whistles prevented children from remembering as many narrative details.[...] The researchers warned that designers should "exercise caution when adding features to enhanced ebooks, especially when those features do not directly relate to the story", and advised parents and teachers to steer clear of enhanced ebooks when prioritising "literacy-building experiences over ones intended 'just for fun'", because "some of the extra features of enhanced ebooks may distract adults and children alike from the story, affecting the nature of conversation and the amount of detail children recall". "

[5thWiggle]

In one variety of the implementation it's the responsibility of a remote "sound server" with a "sound database", which is connected via WiFi or 3G to the reading device, providing sounds in response to specific trigger points. In another implementation, trigger points don't need to be specified individually in every book; rather, a book would receive a unique identifier and a client could access a remote trigger point database to fetch the related sound information.

Hmmm. And what would be the result if Anonymous or some other hacker group managed to get access to that remote "sound database"? Imagine a waiting room with people ereading while waiting for their appointment when the database is hacked. Suddenly it sounds like everyone is playing with a "fart" app...

[Bricorn]

So, no more reading porn on the train then.

[graycyn]

Originally Posted by DrNefario

Well, let's hope they get the patent and never let anyone use it.

I rather hope they don't use it themselves either, LOL! Man, this is about the last thing I'd want happening while I was reading.