A group of researchers are working on a new model of physical books and linking them to technology, which they call 'Augmented Reality Books'.
Augmented reality books will allow users to swipe their fingers over a line in a printed physical book, and the connected content will then appear on their phones, laptops or smart TVs.
The main commercial focus of this technology would be useful in travel guides and educational books, but it could be adapted to fiction as well, said Radu Spuria, a senior lecturer at the university's Institute of Advanced Technologies.
For example, the reader can swipe his finger on the name of a character to bring up the character's entire story on his phone, or to get a reminder of the stories of previous books in the series.
These advantages are common in e-books, but the challenge is to adapt this technology to physical books "without spoiling the experience of reading the paper book".