A Brave New Vest

I love to read. I’m partial to murder mysteries, but put a well written book in my lap and I’m done for the next few hours. Now, I can read and feel my book for hours. I know how this sounds, but it is true. According to Olivia Waxman at the Time’s NewsFeed blog, students at MIT created a wearable vest for readers to experience the characters ups and downs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8y5gzK–K5E

The book uses controls that can measure temperature and light that impact the main character’s scene. Alison Flood of the Guardian Newspaper states that the book responds to the moods in the book by vibrating the vest you’re wearing. This new book reading experience is called sensory fiction. I love the idea, but what happens if I am following… the killer?

So here’s the so what.  This vest opens up the possibility that more people will take up reading if they get a chance to wear this vest.  According to the CIA Worldfact Book the overall 2010 world literacy rate is 84.1%.  The literacy rate is defined as the number of people over the age of 15 who can read and write.  The world is still missing more than 10% of the world population cannot read or write.  If this wearable media vest will bring more people or more children to reading then it is a device worth investing in.  Why not create a device that makes reading more fun or interesting? I am for it.