Growing the tech tree

blueBook

What is it?
It's a book that uses electronically conductive ink to detect when its print is being touched, and then tells a PC via Bluetooth. The designer, Manolis Kelaidis, recently showed how pressing on a word in a blueBook can bring up the dictionary definition of that word on a wireless laptop.

Gaming potential
For an RPG a blueBook could take the place of your character's spell book. When you want to cast a spell, you press a selection of arcane words or quaint antique symbols. There's massive potential for blueBook within military simulations, too. How about a paper map, where you can mark waypoints in the game by tapping on the map? And why not replace old piracy prevention codewheels with a blueBook? Press the following four letters to prove you're not a dirty code-thief.

It's an obvious addition to simple teaching games too: give a child a book with cows and sheep, where pressing on a cartoon bovine brings up a video of the real thing. Everyone likes cows, right?