Augmenting Books With Tangible Animation

Electriflow actuators can animate physical characters embedded in a book.

We present Electriflow: a method of augmenting books with tangible animation employing soft electrohydraulic actuators. These actuators are compact, silent and fast in operation, and can be fabricated with commodity materials. They generate an immediate hydraulic force upon electrostatic activation without an external fluid supply source, enabling a simple and self-contained design. Electriflow actuators produce an immediate shape transition from flat to folded state which enabled their seamless integration intobooks. For the Emerging Technologies exhibit, we will demonstrate the prototype of a book augmented with the capability of tangible animation.

Electriflow actuators can animate physical thin film graphics embedded in a book.

Prototype of a flower petal in the book.