Interactive Reading with Trip Book Smiles

Trip Book Smiles is the first example of an e-book in which certain details change depending on where the reader is located. The unique experience was developed by advertising agency FCB Brasil, and uses geolocation technology to change the setting of the story.

If you pick up your e-reader in New York, the story you are reading will include references to Times Square, the Brooklyn Bridge or other famous landmarks in the Big Apple. If, however, you happen to be in Rio de Janeiro, the action will unfold in the shadow of Sugar Loaf Mountain or on Copacabana beach. So far the scheme counts on New York, Paris, Rome, Rio de Janeiro, Lisbon and Buenos Aires.

TRIP BOOK SMILES from ale paschoalini on Vimeo.

Smiles is a mileage program in Brazil, one of the biggest in the country, and the Trip Book is a new loyalty reward offered as part of the scheme. The first story was written by one of Brazil’s most popular writers, Marcel Rubens Paiva, with other stories planned.

The e-reader revolutionized the relationship between travel and literature, negating the need to lug weighty tomes around the world. Now Trip Book Smiles adds an extra dimension to the technology, combining it with GPS to create location-specific storylines. Many people enjoy reading books based in a country or city they are visiting on a trip, either as a window into the local culture or to feel more immersed in the plot, and Trip Book Smiles provides an innovative way to do so.