Songbird
2024 · AR Adaptation of The Blue Songbird
The Blue Songbird is a children's book. Point a phone at its pages and the characters lift from the illustrations, animated and singing. Songbird is the augmented reality layer that turns a reading experience into a performance.
Songbird, AR bird emerging from illustrated page, phone screen showing augmented reality overlay on children's book.
The Blue Songbird already works as a book. The illustrations tell the story, the pages hold together, a child can sit with it alone. The AR layer is an addition, not a replacement: point a phone at the page and the bird lifts from the illustration, fills the room with sound, and the story expands into the space around the reader.
The challenge was making the two layers feel continuous rather than competing. The book had to be complete on its own. The AR had to feel like it was always there, waiting.
Phone held over open book, AR bird visible on screen, emerging from illustration. Child's hands visible.
Child watching the AR character animate, expression of delight, book open on table in front of them.
Each character needed to feel continuous across its visual animation and vocal interpretation, the same personality expressed through both movement and voice. That required unusually close collaboration between performance and technical implementation, each shaping the other as the work developed.
Book spread, illustration detail, the songbird character before activation.
AR overlay, bird animated above the page, full colour, wings spread.
Two children sharing the experience, phone between them, both engaged.
Character detail, 3D render showing rigging and expression range.
Recording session, Catherine in studio, performing character voice.
Multiple AR characters active simultaneously, full scene visible on screen.
Credits
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