Sony reinvents the storybook with augmented reality 'Wonderbook'

Sony revealed a ton of new and exciting games at its E3 press conference (many of which we've already known about), but it also introduced a new non-gaming experience — an augmented reality storybook that lets users interact with their books like never before with the PlayStation Eye and PlayStation Move.

It's called "Wonderbook" and the first partner to work with Sony is none other than the author of the Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowling.

Using a special book with AR markings on it, Sony demoed a title called the "Book of Spells" that's part of Rowling's post-Harry Potter platform Pottermore.

In "Book of Spells" users wielding PlayStation Move motion controllers can control augmented reality wands to cast a variety of spells onto the "pages" of the Wonderbook. Digital on-screen characters come to life to make "reinvent the storybook."

It's pretty obvious that Sony is targeting the younger ones with Wonderbook, and it throws a bone to the Move, which definitely wasn't as on-point as the Kinect was for Microsoft.

Wonderbooks will start releasing this fall. Is the experience that a book provides — even a storybook — a natural marriage with the PlayStation 3? I guess we'll see.

Posted on location at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena in Los Angeles, California.

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