D4.3 Möbius Book Functional Prototype
This Deliverable describes the technical developments on the implementation of the first functional prototype of the Möbius Book which consists of three major parts: the Möbius Creator’s Toolkit, the Möbius Player, and the file format, which is an extension of the EPUB3 format. The Creator’s Toolkit allows a user to assemble a Möbius book file, which can then be viewed with the Möbius Player. It is built as a web-application that uses responsive technologies and thus is compatible with alloperating systems and can work well on various devices and screen resolutions (including tables and mobiles). Existing Mobius books can be discovered in the Explore interface of the Player. The native prototype is a modified version of the Thorium reader1 that accepts the Möbius extended EPUB3 format and allows to select the tracks the user wants to play back. In its current state, due to the lack of headtracking input, it only plays back static binaural. The mobile player prototype is a responsive application that allows users to fully experience the Möbius books. It can be used on any device and operating system. Users can select a book and choose if they want to have an audio-enhanced experience of reading the book or not. If they have selected the 3D Audio version, once they open the book the voice narration SFX and Music will start playing creating a more immersive experience into the books’s world. Multimedia elements can additionally be encountered directly in the text of the book.
The Möbius file format is the Exchange format between the Creator’s Toolkit and the Player. It is an extension of the EPUB3 format that allows to synchronize multiple audio tracks with the text. While plain EPUB3 only allows to add one audio track to the text that can be played back synchronized to the text if the player is capable of multi-modal reading (i.e., Thorium), the Möbius extension allows to add a sound effects track and a music track, so that the user can choose from the three tracks the ones that contribute most to their reading experience.
