Review Fix chats with Swipe creator Satoshi Nakajima, who discusses his new open-sourced comic book and graphic audio book software and how it’ll change the industry. Nakajima, the lead engineering architect of Microsoft’s Windows 95 & 98 believed the app can give creators more flexibility than ever before.
About Swipe:
Nakajima designed Swipe to give power back to the creator. A free, open-source application for the comic book community, Swipe allows any form of communication created via touch-enabled devices to become a media-rich document embedded with animation, video, images, vector graphics as well as full audio for voice, music and sound effects. The simple-to-use Swipe software transforms any plain digital document into a visual and audio production – and any individual into an accomplished designer. Swipe is a fast and easy design solution for everything from interactive comics, sound novels and graphic audio books to interactive videos, tutorials and all manners of presentations.
Review Fix: What was the inspiration for this app?
Satoshi Nakajima: I met several people in Japanese comic industry who are desperately looking for a new technology that would help the whole industry. One of them mentioned, “I wish we have a comic browser, specifically designed for comic”. His statement really inspired me.Â
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Review Fix: How does it change the comic book industry?
Nakajima: It allows them to offer contents for younger audience who spent more time in social media than comic today.Â
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Review Fix: What has the development process been like? Any hurdles?
Nakajima: The most difficult challenge was the user experience design. What is the ideal reading experience on a smartphone?Â
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Review Fix: Are you currently looking for writers and artists?
Nakajima: YES!
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Review Fix: How does this app differ from something like Madefire?
Nakajima: First of all, it’s an open format. The format is open, and the rendering engine is free (open source). Second, we’ve finally solved the user experience problem. Unlike Madefire, the reader can fully control the speed of animation in a very natural fashion.Â
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Review Fix: What are your goals for this app?
Nakajima: It’s not just an app. I want to make it an industry standard. This is why I made it open and free
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