Mickey Mouse is getting an augmented reality book to help kids learn their ABCs. Kid-focused augmented reality app developer Tigra Live Animations has expanded its existing partnership with children’s AR book publisher Little Hippo Books to include licensed Disney titles. The partnership is the first between Tigra and Disney.
ABC Fun with Mickey, a free preschool book app will be the first to launch this spring for iOS and Android devices. The title’s corresponding Little Hippo book will be published concurrently, but no retail partners have been revealed. It is the the first in a series.
For three- to five-year-olds, ABC Fun with Mickey includes a 3D-animated, 360-degree viewable Mickey Mouse who comes to life via the app and specially marked book pages. With 13 AR animations, the alphabet-learning app/book combo will also feature a seek-and-find game, a letter tracing option and interactive music and sing-along experiences.
Tigra’s first Little Hippo app, Hippo Magic (pictured), launched in December 2017 and features a collection of fairytales, including The Three Little Pigs and Little Red Riding Hood. The books can be purchased online and at Walmart stores in the US. To date, the company’s apps have accumulated 12 million downloads across 51 countries.
The AR book extensions from Tigra and Disney come at a time when AR continues to dominate the kidtech conversation. LEGO released a new app with the technology at the end of last year, combining a virtual world with its physical toy sets. Meanwhile, Nickelodeon is developing an original virtual and augmented reality series entitled Meet the Voxels, that is being made with real-time full body and facial performance capture.