Giulio Ravizza read a piece of his novel ‘La influenza del blu’, Rupert Hubert played the piano, and the Möbius partners explained how the project is reinvigorating the EU book publishing industry

The Möbius consortium presented an evening of immersive fantasy storytelling at the Kunstkraftwerk venue during the Leipzig Book Fair on 28 April 2023: the Fantastic Adventure Night, joined by over 160 attendees. Based on the fantasy novel by Giulio Ravizza “The Influence of Blue”, the media artist Franz Fischnaller created an audio-visual immersive show presented in a short version within the framework of “Leipzig Liest”.

The immersive installation, the Mobile Immersive Book Box, was framed by Giulio Ravizza’s reading, and a piano piece by the composer Rupert Huber. Also, Markus Loeffler, founder of the Kunstkraftwerk venue, Emanuela Furiosi, co-founder of the Möbius partner Bookabook, and Franz Fischnaller explained the Möbius Project and how it is contributing to innovation in the publishing sector.

Möbius at the Leipzig Book Fair 2023: Innovative Applications tests, a panel, and more

Leipzig Book Fair, from 27 to 30 April 2023, is one of the most important get-togethers for the book and media industry in Germany, connecting readers with authors, publishers and media companies from Germany and around the world. It has a strong connection to the fantasy book scene, and visitors discover innovations and gain new perspectives in over 1000 book readings during these days distributed in the city of Leipzig.  

Möbius joined the fair to present and showcase the project, as well as the Möbius Innovative Applications, that were tested by the attendees who popped up at Hall 3 D400 to discover how the initiative is reinvigorating the European book publishing industry. The Möbius Innovative Applications are created for readers, writers and editors to produce interactive content: Möbius Creator, Möbius Player and Prosumers Intelligence Toolkit (PIT).

The project also organised the panel “The future of reading: Exploring new immersive reading experiences” with specialists from Bookabook and Kunstkraftwerk, on 27 April 2023.

Furiosi explained that with immersive experiences we have sound and images, not just words, and remarked the importance of the community:

“In my opinion, the community creating the immersion is the most precious thing, as well as people sharing common experiences”.

Emanuela Furiosi, co-founder at Bookabook, Möbius partner

Fischnaller added that to get into the community thinking, the reader should be stimulated by images to be immersed in a story:

“When you read a book, you can look around and see the visitors inside the book”.

Franz Fischnaller, media artist

The conversation got interesting and the audience asked questions about what happens to imagination with immersion. Fischnaller explained that immersion complements the effect of imagination, because receivers are stimulated by pushing their sense of perception. “We are trying to do what Van Gogh did. He left space for one colour to another, to make the colour vibrate”, he concluded.

To round up the Möbius presence at the Leipzig Book Fair, the consortium celebrated a plenary meeting to discuss the insights, updates, progress and advanced state of the project.

Storytelling, fantasy books, immersive reading, innovation in the editorial industry… the presence of the Möbius Project at the Leipzig Book Fair 2023 was a success, and the consortium had the opportunity to showcase the Möbius Innovative Applications and gather feedback to improve them to keep reinvigorating the European book publishing sector.