I would suppose that for the longest time, we have had to use this thing called “imagination” to enjoy books according to how our brain interprets the particular story. Well, how about bringing it to the next level this time around with the Sensory Fiction? Sensory Fiction happens to be a project that is being worked upon by a MIT team, where it kicked off with the appropriately titled “The Girl Who Was Plugged In,” which was written by James Tiptree Jr. Throughout the entire story, the main protagonist would have undergone a roller coaster of emotions which will range from love all the way to despair, in addition to physical sensations such as coldness and warmth. You will need to read this book while wearing a harness, just like how those “Typing of the Dead” characters walked around in the game. This harness would see the book placed over your torso, where it includes LEDs to recreate the lighting from the story, small heating devices that are able to warm the skin, vibrating mechanisms which do its bit to affect one’s heart rate as well as a compression system with airbags that will tighten and loosen, depending on what is happening within the story itself.
Of course, only physical sensations will be recreated here, where emotions are a totally far more tricky situation to deal with. In fact, the Sensory Fiction project’s objective did mention, “Traditionally, fiction creates and induces emotions and empathy through words and images… the Sensory Fiction author is provided with new means of conveying plot, mood, and emotion while still allowing space for the reader’s imagination.”
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