Bear Abouts

Bear Abouts is a crossover in the fields of app creation, book publishing, and children’s education. Intended to recapture the magic of interacting with our hands that the proliferation of smartphones threatens to deaden, Bear Abouts is a digital/paper hybrid book that gives kids the power to create and influence stories.

The app works on Android, and was build in Unity3d. I collaborated with Mark Wonnacott on the technology and design, and I worked with Amy Rose, Emma Powell, and Liv Bargman to develop stories with the app.

The platform combines paper pages and digital animations to tell interactive stories across physical and digital spaces. It encourages invention, creative play, and imaginative storytelling with iPads or tablets.

Bear About was featured as one of the “strange controllers” at Now Play This. It has been developed through the MV Works programme, and it has was awarded phase 1 and 2 of Arts and Technology Pilot Programme (Arts Council England and Innovate UK)

The app was tested by school children at Filton Avenue in North Bristol.