Google Editions At Play is a new digital book platform that showcase titles with interactive features and are not meant to be printed. The project launched in February with a pair of new titles: Entrances & Exits by Reif Larsen, and The Truth About Cats & Dogs by Sam Riviere and Joe Dunthorne. The first is essentially a point-and-click adventure game in Google Street View, while the second is a “failed collaboration” consisting of Riviere’s and Dunthorne’s diaries which readers can switch back and forth between. It looks like Penguin Random House are getting behind the platform, they are co-sponsoring an event named “Convergence” with Google on March 18th.
This £8 session will explore Visual Editions, demonstrate the technology and reading experience, hear from the authors and involve Editions At Play publishing partners Penguin Random House UK and Lex.
Day Two of Convergence Sessions features talks and workshops hosted by seeper, The Light Surgeons and Google Creative Lab’s Editions At Play, plus a Point Blank Masterclass with The Invisible’s Dave Okumu.
It really looks like Google is taking this new platform seriously with two different sessions at one the United Kingdoms largest technology events. The fact that Penguin Random House is apart of the Google showcase leads me to believe that they are going to be releasing new titles in the near future.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
