Childrens Gadgets, Electronic Gadgets, Toys

Electronic Popables gives you electric pop-up books

I’m sure most of you had the opportunity to play with Pop-Up books when you were a child, but if you haven’t, then the experience will be even more fresh with Electronic Popables.

Jie Qi, with assitance from Leah Buechley and Tshen Chew from the MIT Meida Lab have taken the pop-up book to a whole new level. Their Electronic Popables book features plug-in power motors, so not only can stuff move at the pull of a tab, but it also glows with electronic light.

And that’s not all, certain creations will often light up when the user pushes down on the page, and there is even one instance where pop-up Venus Fly Traps actually open and close. There is a video here after the jump if you want to see it for yourself, and I highly recommend that you do.

Of course, you may have noticed how thick the book is compared to how many pages are actually in it. Such is the way of pop-up books, and you may have noticed that the mini circuit boards have to be placed on the cover of the book like parts of a butterfly, because they don’t fit in between the pages.

Jie Qi and his friend also haven’t figured out that terrible problem that plagues pop-up books with the tab function. I’ve noticed that some of the longer tabs on pop-up books will pull just fine, but when you push them back in, they bend.

Anyway, this is still a concept for now, with no Electronic Popables book appearing at the Barnes and Noble anytime soon. However, it certainly makes me long for one.

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