In our fast paced world where ‘Time is money’, reading a book the traditional way is somewhat difficult, time consuming and a hassle to most people. Most just stop reading books altogether, some try to read occasionally and some try to switch over to alternate methods of consuming books like listening to Audiobooks or watch the movie based on the book, they wanted to read.
A Boston-based software developer Spritz, is coming out with a new revolutionary app to help us consume books at speeds we never thought possible.
The problem with ‘speed reading’ a book in the traditional way is that it takes a toll on our eyes, as we scan through word after word, left-right and up-down across a book. Spritz is using the concept of ‘Optimal Recognition Point (ORP)’ to overcome this issue, thereby reducing eye strain.
What is ORP?
Traditional reading requires you to read the entire word , for our brain to process and make sense of it as our eyes move slowly over the page.
But actually each word has an ‘Optimal Recognition Point’ or ‘ORP’ in short which our brain recognizes,which is slightly to the left of the center of each word. In layman’s terms, this means, that our brain can recognize and make sense of the word more quickly, without having to fully read it.
So what Spritz has done is highlight the ‘ORP’ in red. It also displays words in quick succession across the screen at various speeds of 250,350,500 and 1000 words per minute, thus eliminating the need for us to move our eyes from line to line.
It also aligns the words according to ORP irrespective of its size, so that users don’t have to move their eyes across rapidly.
Implications
You can read a full length novel in under 90 minutes!, reduce eye strain and the headaches that arise out of all night reading sessions and read for longer periods of time.
Great! But will I be able to retain what I read?
Yes! Though it might take a short time to get used to it. According to Spritz, you spend as little as 20 percent of your reading time actually taking in the words you’re looking at, and as much as 80 percent physically moving your eyes around to find the right spot to read each word from.So in fact this new system might help improve retention.
Final Verdict
The ‘Spritz’ way of reading is sure to revolutionize they way we read books.
Spritz has teamed up with Samsung and will integrate this speed reading functionality with its upcoming Galaxy S5 Smartphone.We are looking forward to it,Are you?
