Why did I decide to add a multidimensional (AR) guidebook app to Fantôme?

Hello, my dear reader. I hope you are doing well. You might be aware that I'm currently running a Kickstarter campaign. In the campaign, I'm raising the funds for a very special tarot deck which I named Fantôme. Besides the beautiful imagery, this deck also comes with something I never offered before - a multidimensional guidebook in the form of an AR app. I wanted to use this opportunity to talk more about why I decided to offer something like this next to the deck.

I want to offer you a new & unique experience

While Fantôme does include a printed guidebook, I want to do something more. I want to offer you a new experience. I want to open a new dimension for you. I decided to do this through an Augmented Reality (AR) app. AR allows you to visualize digital objects in real environments and thus offers a richer experience for new readers - one that I could not hope to provide through a printed guidebook. It's a new interactive multidimensional way to learn about tarot. I believe Fantôme's AR guidebook app elevates the beauty of the cards as well as pushes the idea of merging the reality which we live in and the expansive more energetic reality of Tarot.

I want to help you make the tarot more interesting for the people around you

Now I know that experienced readers don't really need such a special interactive guidebook, nor do they need a printed one. That said, I still believe that the multidimensional AR guidebook app will be of use to you too. If you're anything like me, you probably want to share your love for tarot with the people around you. Maybe with your partners, children, or parents. With the AR app you'll be able to amaze them with the symbolism behind each card. We are visual creatures so what can be better than seeing the iconography and symbolism floating in space above each of the cards in the deck. I hope that the app will offer you a chance to connect with your close ones around something you love. And by doing so, I hope they will be able to understand and appreciate what tarot means to you and me.

I needed more flexibility with the design the option to continuously improve it

Finally, I wanted more flexibility when designing the guidebook experience. I love reading, touching and smelling books ... but books are static items that are hard to improve once they are printed. Through the app, I have the opportunity to continuously improve your guidebook experience and also add new features. If something is not explained well enough, I can expand on it. If I dream up something new for you, I can add it. If there is something I want to make for myself, I can share it with you as well. What I'm trying to say here is that the app allows me to provide you with more value long after I ship out all the items from this Kickstarter campaign. I can add to it as long as it is needed.

Final thoughts

The inspiration for the card imagery is based on the classic illustrations of the Rider Waite tarot deck drawn by Pamela Colman Smith in 1909. Based on the fact that Rider Waite is one of the most popular tarot decks out there today I'm sure that many of you are quite familiar with its card symbolism. For more experienced readers the app is an additional perk that comes with the deck. For new readers, I'm hoping it will be a new interactive way to learn about tarot. And I hope that for all, it will be a way to introduce tarot to everyone around you in a fun and exciting way.

This is an example of how you'll be able to visualise different tarot spreads directly in front of you.