Currently, I am developing two complementary technologies designed to increase immersion in literature without altering the act of reading itself.

Both stem from the same core notion: sound, technology, and additional media can enhance a reader's experience without competing with the written word.

Interactive Book Technology

Through QR codes placed at selected points throughout a novel, readers can access an optional digital layer designed specifically around the story.

The technology began with music. Using calculations based on reading speed, I match the expected reading time of individual chapters and scenes with carefully selected music, allowing the soundtrack to progress alongside the narrative in a similar way to a film score. Because the experience is divided throughout the book rather than attached to the novel as one continuous playlist, the timing can be much more precise. A piece of music can correspond specifically with the emotional arc, atmosphere or pacing of the section being read.

The system can also extend beyond music.

QR codes can lead readers to maps, original artwork, fictional histories, character or creature information, quizzes, and other material connected directly to the story. A reader might open a map as characters enter a new region, view artwork of a location when it first appears, or access additional history without requiring that information to interrupt the narrative itself. Each element is intentionally created, selected and positioned for that particular book by the author and their team.

The central principle is optional immersion. The book remains complete on its own. The technology simply gives readers another way to enter its world.

Adaptive AI Ambience

Alongside the author-scored system, a partner and I are developing a separate subscription-based platform capable of creating adaptive sound for virtually any text.

The platform first uses a proprietary algorithm to determine an individual reader's speed. It then combines that information with textual analysis to understand elements such as setting, tone, atmosphere, pacing, and transitions between scenes. Those signals are used to construct a soundscape that follows the reader through the text.

A scene taking place in the rain will introduce subtle rainfall audio. A train journey would incorporate the distant rhythm of wheels against tracks. As a chapter becomes tense, the underlying score will adjust alongside the story.

The emphasis is intentionally on background ambience. The technology is not designed to narrate the text or attach a sound effect to every action. Instead, audio sits underneath the reading experience, creating atmosphere while allowing the reader's attention to remain on the page.

Because the system accounts for the reader's individual pace, the soundscape can remain aligned with the section of the story they are actually experiencing rather than relying on a single predetermined timeline.

*Built Without Training on Authors’ Writing

The adaptive platform is a software and algorithmic project, not a system for acquiring literary material. Thus, text provided to the platform is not used to train AI models or build training datasets. The writing is processed only for structural analysis and the contextual signals necessary to synchronise ambience with the text. A writer's work remains their work.

The purpose of the technology is to respond to literature, not to learn how to reproduce it.

Two Different Experiences

Although the projects share the same goal, they operate differently.

The QR-based system is created specifically for an individual book. Its soundtrack, timing, artwork, maps and interactive material can all be intentionally designed around that particular story.

The AI platform is adaptive. It is designed to work with whatever supported material a reader chooses to provide, automatically analysing the text and constructing an appropriate ambient experience around it.

One is deliberately built into a story. The other dynamically responds to one.