Page 142 - AC/E Digital Culture Annual Report

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sions based on the type of reading and therefore the reader is the passive party to the interaction.
With eBooks like this, it will no longer matter if someone reveals the end of the novel, as they are spoiler-proof; there are even characters whose attitude might vary depending on the reader or who might not appear for all readers. It will be more complicated to comment on the book with friends as no two readings will be the same – in this case literally, not because of literary theories.
Sensory Fiction went even further.90 This interac- tive book developed by students at the Massa- chusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is capable of conveying to readers the characters’ emotions by means of sensors connected to a wearable vest.
As we are seeing, progress in studying batteries and sensors is taking technology to levels
that were unimaginable only a few years ago: tools have been developed that can improve
or enhance human experience and even boost our intelligence (memory, creativity, ability to concentrate...) or detect moods and sensations in order to anticipate our needs.
These products, the result of the latest technol- ogy, are no longer science fiction but a reality that can afford us many and varied new experi- ences while we enjoy reading. The monitoring ability of mobile devices and wearable technol- ogy makes it possible to handle interesting data that is useful in all fields, and the world of books is not being (and cannot afford to be) left behind.
The emergence of audiobooks
Audiobooks are not a new product. If they
are currently in the news it is because, as the lecturer José Antonio Cordón states, “they have surpassed the boundaries of specialised niches (people with visual difficulties, language teaching sector, principally) and have spread to fiction and
Figures 17, 18 and 19. Sensory Fiction. Source: https:// scifi2scifab.media.mit.edu/2013/12/19/sensory-fiction/
general nonfiction, beginning an adventure that was unforeseeable a few years ago”. 91
They have grown unstoppably since 2015, first
in the United States and later in the rest of the countries. In Spain, too, albeit more recently. The supply of audiobooks in Spanish has increased considerably, from barely 1,000 titles at the start of the decade to more than 4,000 today, according to the data gathered in a report on eBooks in Latin America and Spain, Evolución del libro electrónico en América Latina y España.92
READING MATERIALS
Readers in the digital age