Interview with Aksel Koie, CEO of Step in Books

Aksel Koie, CEO of Step In Books, based in Copenhagen and founded in 2014, discusses the design and technology behind his Bologna Ragazzi Digital Award winning app, Mur. This is the second year Step in

Books has won this prestigious international prize. Mur is a beautiful, interactive, musical app that uses augmented reality and is built to augment the Finnish childrens book, A bear called Mur by Kaisa Happonen and Anne Vasko.

The app uses augmented reality to bridge the physical book with the virtual reality of the app universe. The images in the book can be scanned over, opening a dream-like intro sequence where the real world slowly fades and makes Murs world appear. The book becomes a set of keys to unlock interactive experiences in a 360 world, which can be navigated via the smart device as a sort of magical window. The Mur app follows the storyline of the book, but without words it focuses on music, which is built up in four acts, each with a different theme. The music is especially arranged, composed and performed for the app.

See the app take flight here.

Susan Raab is president of Raab Associates, an internationally recognized agency that specializes in marketing literature, products and initiatives that help improve the lives of young people. Clients have included National Geographic, Scholastic, the International Board on Books for Young People, and bestselling authors and illustrators. Susan is marketing advisor for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). She’s also a journalist reporting on publishing, education and human rights. Her work as a broadcast correspondent has been hosted by the University of Connecticut, and by the University of Florida’s Recess Radio, a program syndicated to 500 public radio stations. Her many interviews, including with Art Spiegelman, Jon Scieszka, Norton Juster, Laurie Halse Anderson and many others talking about art and literature can be heard here. Follow Susan at: https://twitter.com/sraab18

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Aksel Koie, CEO of Step In Books, based in Copenhagen and founded in 2014, discusses the design and technology behind his Bologna Ragazzi Digital Award winning app, Mur. This is the second year Step in

Books has won this prestigious international prize. Mur is a beautiful, interactive, musical app that uses augmented reality and is built to augment the Finnish childrens book, A bear called Mur by Kaisa Happonen and Anne Vasko.

The app uses augmented reality to bridge the physical book with the virtual reality of the app universe. The images in the book can be scanned over, opening a dream-like intro sequence where the real world slowly fades and makes Murs world appear. The book becomes a set of keys to unlock interactive experiences in a 360 world, which can be navigated via the smart device as a sort of magical window. The Mur app follows the storyline of the book, but without words it focuses on music, which is built up in four acts, each with a different theme. The music is especially arranged, composed and performed for the app.

See the app take flight here.

Susan Raab is president of Raab Associates, an internationally recognized agency that specializes in marketing literature, products and initiatives that help improve the lives of young people. Clients have included National Geographic, Scholastic, the International Board on Books for Young People, and bestselling authors and illustrators. Susan is marketing advisor for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI). She’s also a journalist reporting on publishing, education and human rights. Her work as a broadcast correspondent has been hosted by the University of Connecticut, and by the University of Florida’s Recess Radio, a program syndicated to 500 public radio stations. Her many interviews, including with Art Spiegelman, Jon Scieszka, Norton Juster, Laurie Halse Anderson and many others talking about art and literature can be heard here. Follow Susan at: https://twitter.com/sraab18

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices