The Scene

J.K. Rowling Conjures Up a "Real" Book of Spells

Published on Tuesday, June 05 2012
Written by Katie Marzullo
 
“Book of Spells is the closest a Muggle can come to a real spell book.”
 
So sayeth the Lady Rowling. And so it is. Amen!
 
You heard that right. J.K. Rowling has teamed up with Sony PlayStation to create the first interactive project for their new Wonderbooks concept, an actual Book of Spells based on the Harry Potter universe we all know and love.
 
After the lukewarm success of Pottermore, an interactive website which Rowling intended to expand her Potter empire, this new Book of Spells might be just the frothy glass of warm butterbeer we need to bring us closer than ever to fulfilling our Hogwarts fantasies.
 
Since I can’t even do basic math in my head, I’ll try my best to explain how this all will work! From what I can gather based on the demonstration at the product’s announcement this week at the E3 convention, it looks like more of a video game in the vein of Just Dance than a magic book that springs to life before your very eyes. You will need to have the PlayStation Eye camera, which you aim at yourself and the special Wonderbook – basically a book with blank pages that interact with the program. Once the Eye recognizes you, your image is beamed back onto the television, and this is where your “spells” come to life. Using the Move controller as a surrogate “wand”, you basically watch yourself on TV go through all the little spell casting lessons. This technology is referred to as “peripheral reality” – meaning, you remain in your actual 3-dimensional world while your image is integrated into the virtual world vis-à-vis your television set.
 
Whether or not this sounds exciting to you at all is, I suppose, in the eye of the beholder (and depends on the size of your television too, I imagine). The Book also includes origin stories and histories about the spells therein, so if nothing else, we have new(ish) Harry Potter material from J.K.!
 
Check out this nifty product demo from E3 below to get a clearer picture of what to expect:
 
 
 
Book of Spells is expected to hit the market this fall. Get your swish-and-flick ready!
 
 
- Katie Marzullo, YH Staff Editor