An Interactive Picture Book “Little Piyo’s Friend” Released as an iPhone/iPad App

- Sep 07, 2011 - ■   What is “Little Piyo’s Friend” for iPhone/iPad?
“Little Piyo’s Friend” is an interactive picture book application that adapts the first book in Gakken’s million-seller “Little Piyo” picture book series for iPhone/iPad.  The book series has sold a total of 2 million books.

The mechanics of the picture book use physics simulation technology researched and developed at the University of Tokyo to convey a realistic world in a pop-up book for children and their parents. With many surprising touchscreen effects not available through normal animation or video, such as being able to touch Little Piyo, grass moving realistically when touched, and realistic water drop movement, the story enables parents and children to enjoy the content together.

Phyzios plans to release second and third adaptations based on the “Little Piyo” picture book series.


■   Features of this App
    Adaptation of Gakken’s popular picture book series with physics simulation!
    A new type of interactive picture book app that lets small children interact with the story intuitively!
    Available in English and Japanese!

■ Special website with promotional video
   English    :  http://www.gakken-ehon-apps.jp/little-piyo/eng/index.html
   FaceBook Page：http://www.facebook.com/littlepiyo
   You Tube  :  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cpf7gL22Rfw&feature=youtu.be




■   Overview of “Little Piyo’s Friend”
Title:   “Little Piyo’s Friend”
Data supplier:   Phyzios, Inc.
Release date:   August 11, 2011
Supported devices:   iPhone (excluding 3G), iPod touch (third generation or later), iPad  
Supported iOS:   iOS 4.0 or later
Available at:   iTunes App Store
Price:   US $8.99 （\800）


■   Gakken’s Million-seller “Little Piyo” Picture Book Series
The series has sold a total of 2 million books, as first books for ages 0 to 2, to picture books suitable for the lower elementary school grades. There are multiple lines of books to match a child’s growth, including touchable picture books and pop-up picture books in which kids can touch the fluffy and cute Little Piyo and other animals or see Little Piyo and friends pop up, as well as story-oriented picture books that illustrate adventures and interactions with Little Piyo’s friends and family.

■   Profile of the Author, Satoshi Iriyama
Satoshi Iriyama was born in Tokyo. After time spent in character design and as a greeting card designer, he set out as a freelance designer. His representative works include the “Little Piyo” series (published by Gakken), Midori no Kuma to Akai Kuma (published by JIVE Ltd.), and direct-sales nursery picture books.

■   Inquiries
Phyzios Inc. Public Relations    Email: info@phyzios.com
Tel: +81-3-3830-4870 (Representatives: Hidaka and Hosoya)
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Phyzios provides new types of entertainment, creation, and communication opportunities using the particle-based physics simulation technology developed originally by the University of Tokyo for industrial use.
Phyzios has released several iPhone/iPad applications, including “Aqua Forest” (ranked No.1 in both the US and Japan, jointly developed with Hudson Soft Co. Ltd.), “UKIYOE-Woodcut-” (ranked No.1), “Marbling” (ranked No.2), “PHYZIOS Studio” (ranked No.9), and “PHYZIOS Sculptor” (ranked No.1 in Italy and No.2 in Japan).
For more information, please visit our website at http://www.phyzios.com/eng/index.html

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