AN entrepreneur from Yate is looking to his local community for help funding the second range of his animated colouring books for kids.

James Murden, a presenter for shopping channel QVC and active member of Sodbury Players, launched Mardles last spring. The stickers, now stocked in Toys R Us, Argos, Ocado and Amazon, come to life when used with a free to download app.

Now James, and his business partner and fellow QVC presenter Sharon Wyness, is launching the DiscovAR range of colouring books which use augmented reality technology so children can colour in a picture and then watch it literally come to life.

Said James, proud new dad to baby George: “We all know that kids love using colouring books but they also love using tablets.

“We've fused the two together to create educational colouring books that come to life with a free app. We've included the latest augmented reality and virtual reality technology to make these products truly magical.

“The idea is that aliens have landed on earth and need kids' help to explore. Children can colour in our scenes with their favourite pens, pencils, crayons or paints, download our free app and hold it over the page to bring it to life in their exact colours in 3D with sound effects.

“When they enable the 'VR' feature, they can move their device around and see their coloured-in environment as a virtual world.”

But James, who also co-runs Razzamataz theatre school in Yate, said the products had been expensive to develop so he and Essex-based Sharon are using crowdfunding website Kickstarter to promote the range and help fund the remaining costs.

“Folks get the chance to pledge towards the project and in return they receive the product so it’s win, win,” added James.

“If the project doesn't get fully funded, backers aren't charged, meaning it's no risk for people that help us along.”

He said: “All our products are developed and tested right here in Yate.

“I run focus groups with Yate and Sodbury-based parents and kids to get their feedback for development of the products. Local parents and kids are integral to the process, many of the decisions we make come as a direct result of focus group feedback.”

To help fund the project and receive one of the new colouring books visit discovAR.co.uk