Three-dimensional publications with quick-response (QR) code linked virtual content

1 . An article, comprising:

a page from a plurality of pages of a book;

a paper coupled to the page and having a first configuration and including a plurality of folds and a plurality of faces, the plurality of faces including a first face that defines a first plane and a second face that defines a second plane different from the first plane, the first configuration defining an at least partially enclosed volume, the paper, when in the first configuration, having a three-dimensional shape that indicates a topic of the book;

a plurality of markings, each marking from the plurality of markings encoding a uniform resource locator (URL) from a plurality of URLs and configured to be decoded using a mobile compute device, the URL being associated with the topic of the book, the plurality of markings including:

a first marking (1) encoding a first URL, (2) being disposed on the first face, and (3) being at least partially obfuscated when the paper is in the first configuration, and

a second marking (1) encoding a second URL to be visited after the first URL, (2) being disposed on the second face, and (3) being at least partially obfuscated when the paper is in the first configuration;

a first instruction for unfolding the paper from the first configuration to a second configuration in which the first marking is fully visible and the second marking is at least partially obfuscated; and

a second instruction for unfolding the paper from the second configuration to a third configuration in which the second marking is fully visible.

2 . The article of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of markings includes at least one quick-response (QR) code.

3 . The article of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first instruction or the second instruction at least one of:

references a structural feature of the three-dimensional shape; or

is disposed on an outwardly extending tab of the paper.

4 . The article of claim 1 , wherein:

the first URL is associated with a first virtual location of a virtual setting described in the book; and

the second URL is associated with a second virtual location of the virtual setting that is different, within the virtual setting, from the first virtual location.

5 . The article of claim 4 , wherein the first instruction describes an unfolding sequence related to a sequence of virtual locations that include the first virtual location and the second virtual location.

6 . The article of claim 1 , wherein:

at least a portion of a fold from the plurality of folds is disposed between the first face and the second face;

a first portion of at least one of the first marking or the second marking is disposed on the first face;

a second portion of the at least one of the first marking or the second marking is disposed on the second face;

a transition from the first configuration to the second configuration causes the first face to pivot at the fold in a first direction and causes the second face to pivot in a second direction substantially opposite the first direction; and

the first face and the second face are substantially planar when the paper is in the second configuration.

7 . The article of claim 1 , wherein the URL encoded by the second marking is further associated with a third instruction for transforming the paper from the third configuration to the first configuration.

8 . An article, comprising:

a three-dimensional (3D) object including a paper having a plurality of folds defined therein and configured such that the paper, when folded along the plurality of folds, has a 3D shape and defines an interior volume; and

a set of printed pages (1) disposed within the interior volume defined by the 3D object and (2) not outwardly visible by an observer a non-zero distance from the paper when the paper has the 3D shape, the set of printed pages having:

a first quick-response (QR) code disposed on a first portion of the set of printed pages, the first QR code configured to cause a compute device to access first online content, and

a second QR code disposed on a second portion of the set of printed pages, the second QR code configured to cause the compute device to access second online content to be viewed after the first online content, the set of printed pages configured such that the first portion of the set of printed pages is revealed to the observer before the second portion of the set of printed pages.

9 . The article of claim 8 , wherein the paper includes a protrusion that includes an indication of an unfolding sequence that causes the set of printed pages to be visible by the observer, the indication referencing a structural feature of the 3D shape.

10 . The article of claim 9 , wherein the protrusion is a first protrusion, and the paper further includes a second protrusion disposed on the paper and that includes an indication of a folding sequence that causes the set of printed pages to be at least partially hidden.

11 . The article of claim 9 , wherein:

the first online content includes a first view of a virtual environment;

the second online content includes a second view of the virtual environment; and

the unfolding sequence is associated with a sequence that includes the first view and the second view.

12 . The article of claim 11 , wherein the virtual environment that is navigable from at least one of: the first online content to the second online content, or the second online content to the first online content.

13 . The article of claim 8 , wherein:

the first QR code encodes an address of the first online content; and

the first online content includes at least one of an image or a discussion, associated with a topic connected to the 3D shape.

14 . The article of claim 8 , wherein the set of printed pages depicts a first photographic image and a second photographic image, the first photographic image associated with the first online content and the second photographic image associated with the second online content.

15 . An apparatus, comprising:

an object having a three-dimensional (3D) shape;

an accordion book; and

a first quick-response (QR) code disposed on the accordion book positioned within an internal volume defined by the object, the first QR code configured to be viewed by a user of the apparatus prior to a second QR code disposed on the accordion book being viewed by the user, the first QR code configured to be scanned using a mobile compute device and to cause navigation, via a browser executed at a processor of the mobile compute device, to first online content based on a first uniform resource locator (URL) encoded by the first QR code, the second QR code configured to be scanned using the mobile compute device and to cause navigation, via the browser executed at the processor of the mobile compute device, to second online content based on a second URL encoded by the second QR code.

16 . The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the object includes at least one of a 3D papercraft object, a 3D articulable door, a 3D pottery object, a 3D ceramics object, or a 3D diorama object.

17 . The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the first QR code is revealed for viewing by the user as a result of unfolding a portion of the object.

18 . The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the accordion book is configured to exert a spring force to cause the accordion book to automatically protrude from the object in response to the portion of the object being unfolded.

19 . The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein:

the first QR code is disposed on a cover of the accordion book; and

the second QR code is disposed on an accordion portion of the accordion book.

20 . The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein:

each of the first online content and the second online content includes at least one of an image or a discussion associated with a topic associated with the 3D shape.