Iron Education, Teaching Aid and Training Content Design · 2022

Superhero Pop-up Book

by Can Zhu

A' Design Award 2022 Iron Winner in Education, Teaching Aid and Training Content Design
Awarded April 15, 2022
CLIENT: Zhejiang University
Estimated Number of Design Views: 19,689
Verification code F8D360A4AC · Verify this award

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About Superhero Pop-up Book

Superhero is a pop-up book designed to teach young children about Covid-19. The book tells a story in which immune cells act as superheroes and fight monsters that stand for viruses. Paper pop-up structures are combined with thin electronic circuits, so each page gives visual, tactile and sound feedback. Children push, pull, rotate, click and shake the paper parts to follow the story. Laser cutting is used to make the paper parts, and copper tape connects the hidden sensors. The book makes abstract scientific knowledge easier to understand.

Press Kit

Unique Properties: Superhero is a pop-up book for multi-sensory interactions, which is designed to publicize COVID-19-related knowledge among children. It tells how immune cells fight against viruses and protect our health through a vivid story about superheroes fighting monsters. A new form of combining pop-up paper books with electronic circuits was proposed to help children better understand abstract scientific knowledge through an audible, visual, touchable and interactive way.
Dimensions & Packaging: 260mm x 225mm x 50 mm
Tags: Education, Popular science, Childrenbook, Popupbook, Young children, COVID-19
Production Technology: Laser cutting is used for rapid production iterations of paper parts. The structure of paper to hide the thin electronic components (such as pressure sensor, photosensitive sensor, magnetic sensor, etc.). These electronic components are connected by copper tape.
Design Challenge: Paper structure stability，Circuit stability on paper
Project Duration: This project was created in Ningbo, China from November, 2020. Now, it has been located in Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, China since May, 2021.
Operation Flow: Each page of the book describes a scene of immune cells fighting the virus. Different paper structures and interaction methods were designed for each scene. Young children can feel the scene by pushing, pulling, rotating, clicking, shaking and other fine hand movements . And they can get visual, tactile, and auditory feedback that matches the story.
Research: The researchers conducted usability test on the first version of the product to verify the usability, interest and effectiveness of the book. Participants in the test are lower grade pupils. After completing the test, the researchers coded user behaviors based on interviews and video recordings, find out the participants’ attitudes towards the product, and sorted out the problems in this product. The researchers also collected feedback from participants’ parents and teachers through interviews. The test results verify the effectiveness and interest of the product and this new form. However, the test also found that the product has some problems in structural usability and image recognizability. Based on the feedback, the product has been iterated. Now, the new product has begun to be tried in schools and communities to obtain more user data. The new product are well-recognized by teachers and popular among young children.
Inspiration: Science popularization plays an important role in COVID-19 prevention and control. The virus can't be seen or touched, which makes it hard for teachers and parents to introduce virus-related knowledge to young children. The emergence of thin and light electronic components has enabled the realization of circuits on paper. In this context, more diverse forms of interaction can be applied to the traditional story books to add more fun and interactivity to the reading process.