Wonderbook Was Originally Conceived Over Seven Years Ago

Sony will conjure Wonderbook: Book of Spells onto store shelves later this week – over seven years after the magical adventure was originally conceived. Chatting with VG247 at an industry event in London, art director Masami Kochi explained that the family friendly idea pre-dates even the PlayStation 3.

“Back in 2005, when I first saw the early augmented reality technology I thought, ‘Wow, that’s something that could really go far in the future’,” Kochi said. “I started thinking about how it could be used with more powerful technology like PS3, which wasn’t out yet. I had the idea of using augmented reality in conjunction with a book that anyone can play and so you open the book and the fantasy becomes a reality.”

Kochi shared her original storyboards with VG247, which bear an uncanny resemblance to the final product. The sketches – entitled EyeToy: Wonderbook – show a genie popping out of an open novel. You can view the diagrams through here.

Sony is preparing plenty of content for Wonderbook over the coming months, with both the BBC and Disney already on board. For a little more about the peripheral, check out our review of Wonderbook: Book of Spells.