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Sunday, November 4, 2012

postheadericon Do Shakespeare plays smell as sweet when released as iPad apps?

Explore Shakespeare

applications designed to give people new ways of Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet

Cambridge University Press agant and developer have teamed up to launch two iPad apps that offer interactive touch on two of the most famous works of Shakespeare. Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet

two applications - Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare: Macbeth and the discovery of Shakespeare: Explorer - includes the full texts of works and audio performance, photographs of professional productions, glossary definitions, the plot summaries, notes and expert articles.

also offer interactive word clouds for individual scenes and characters, diagrams (or "circles") that shows the relationships between the characters in each scene, and "themelines" to show how main themes find their way through the text.

"These applications are trying to make Shakespeare accessible to all," said Matt Harvey, Cambridge University Press, "marketing director, speaking applications launch event in London.

CEO Dave Addey

agant elaborated on the theme: "What we wanted to do more than anything else with these applications is to give people a way in the theater, especially if they studied before Shakespeare, or tried intimidating. "

This does not mean dumbing down, however. At the center of these two applications CUP is called "definitive texts" plays with all the interactive features designed to help people understand and appreciate the text, rather than take away from it.

"We are excited that this should be all about the game: the game is the thing," said John Pettigrew, UPC digital strategic development director, who was the executive producer of the project. " If the application takes people away from the game too, do not do the work you want to do. "

Addey said it was one of the reasons video performance are not included in the applications.

"If you include video, people will see the video and not look at the text: you can not physically see and read at the same time," he said. "If you have audio playing with the text, you can study the text and get a better understanding of the words."

Pettigrew stated that applications cost "mid-five figures" to develop, with costs shared between the UPC and agant. The couple expects to launch four other Shakespeare plays in the next 2-3 months, using the engine developed for the first two slots.

Premium price

Both cost £ 9.99 in the App Store applications. CUP Pettigrew set the price at the beginning of the development process, with the heart of success similar to high-end applications such as Elements book, The Magic of Reality and The Waste Land in the App Store.

"It was a deliberate decision to release as an application of high quality, which allowed us to do well," said Pettigrew. "He was one of the least contentious during development. "We knew that if we set the price, gave us a target for what we are trying to accomplish."

The engine is not set in stone, however. Pettigrew said CUP agant and will monitor the comments and to add new features for future applications, they also back in Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet. It is also possible to use other engines CUP Shakespeare and books.

"The girls arrive at the end of Act 3 of Romeo and Juliet, and I can not wait to come back after half-term to continue. They are very excited about it. Applications are innovative and useful, and the students love it. "

iPad applications are part of the UPC digital media strategy, however. "We can not do great things here for Shakespeare, but most of our customers do not have iPads, so it can not be the heart," said Pettigrew.

"How can we serve the main group of clients? That's where things like the web come in. We need to find the right balance between doing what is best for a given platform and serve all needs of our customers. "

For applications, it may be necessary to look beyond the iPad. Pettigrew said that the Apple device is the main product being selected by British schools buy tablets for their students to use, but other countries - Turkey and India, for example - are "highly Apps»


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