Page Turning Interfaces
Today I bumped into two examples of a rather interesting navigational idea for Flash, namely the turning of pages with the mouse to simulate the hand. Pixelwit's PageFlip was the first example I found, only to notice that it was actually inspired by the navigation of Perfect Fools Digital Productions, an interactive production company in Stockholm, Sweden. With some added traction to the center edges (which is where I think most people turn pages from) the interface could be quite effective in the proper setting.
Update (12.04.02): Another version recently popped up over at HP. Check out HP and Dreamworks.
Comments
I keep receiving e-mails from company(ies) selling software to create this effect but theirs require a pc-only, this usage-only, plugin or a bloated .EXE file that could have viruses. The examples you refer to are so much more elegant and require the plugin most people already have. I knew flash could do the same thing with masking and creative shadow effects but I wondered how much work it would be to put it together. Doesn't seem too hard technically after the masking and shadow effects are set up for left and right pages. I wouldn't buy any stock in those other companies!
Posted by: Lauri at October 23, 2002 4:39 PM
Its not hard at all to put together actually. The file that you can download from actionscripts.org has it setup to where you only need to setup the page layout, and its ready to go....very nicely put together. If I recall correctly, the file won a contest over at actionscripts.org as well.
Posted by: Josh Dura at October 24, 2002 11:01 AM
For those interested in downloading the Flash MX source, grab it here.
Posted by: Todd at October 24, 2002 12:15 PM
Thanks for the link guys/gals. Traffic to my site has nearly doubled and someone was even kind enough to send an "unsolicited" donation. Way cool.
"Thanks" for the kind words Josh and "You're welcome" to anyone else who has taken time out of their busy day to thank me for the file (there have been a few). :)
-PiXELWiT
Posted by: PiXELWiT at October 24, 2002 6:27 PM
Man, this page turning effect is going to be like a forest fire that spreads to every derivative page on the net. It's a good idea, but I really wish people would look at it and then pursue other good ideas rather than just replicating it. Metaphors soemtimes make great devices...but no doubt all we are going to see from this is this same page turning metaphor used over and over again.
Posted by: Tim Allan at October 28, 2002 7:07 AM
Someone had to add this link to the thread:
http://www.bl.uk/collections/treasures/digitisation.html
The British Library has been using a "turning the pages" shockwave exhibit since '97. The interaction is not quite as user-friendly as Pixelwit's, though.
I remember a mention of it cropped up on metafilter a while ago:
http://www.metafilter.com/mefi/19449
Posted by: francois at November 21, 2002 7:49 AM
