Blended Shelf
About
Blended Shelf provides a shelf browsing experience beyond the physical location of the library. It offers a 3D visualization of library collections with the integration of real-world attributes like the size and availability of books. The application reflects the actual arrangement of items in the physical library and enables implicit serendipitous support of the shelf browsing process in the digital world. The interface offers multiple views with different levels of detail regarding the collection as well as various entrance points to it. The user can explore and search the shelves by touch interaction. Thus, a user can explore collections in a familiar way and benefit from serendipitous browsing discoveries without forfeiting the advantages of the digital domain.
The first versions of the Blended Shelf are a result of my master thesis and studies of human computer interaction linked to topics of physical and digital libraries. Later I developed a second version based on HTML5 technology, but unfortunately we had to stop the project. As a result of the Blended Shelf Project a commercial version, called the Hybrid Bookshelf, was built by Picibird. Even if I did not implement the Hybrid Bookshelf, it is great to see the works and results of my master thesis as a real product in real libraries.
Further Information
- Keep track of the developments via my personal blog.
- Get some visual impressions.
- Watch videos.
- Read publications and look up slides.