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Show HN: Bionic Reading – Formats text to make it faster to read

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Re: Show HN: Bionic Reading – Formats text to make it faster to read

#81

Post by renato_casutt »

corobo wrote: post #14
blackbear_ wrote: post #9

Actually this made it harder for me to read. The text felt "bumpy", unlike normal in text where it felt smoother and flowing. Maybe it's just a matter of habit. Anyways, I don't believe speed-reading to be effective, especially for comprehension and long-term retention. The best and fastest way to get an overview of a written piece is not to read it faster, but to skip most of the content. Most of it is just supporti…

I'd say it almost halves my reading speed. In regards to speed reading I've always been under the impression it means you take in entire lines/sentences in one go rather than reading faster, skipping the sub-vocalisation step. For instance the homepage of HN is a quick scan vertically down the page until a headline catches my eye as interesting, no real side to side eye movement needed unless the title is a bit long…

Yes, corobo that can be that it prevents you from reading. However, I would argue that you are a speed reader.

One test person in the study was also a speed reader. She had read two different texts. Once with and once without bionic reading. But her speed stayed at 800 wpm each time.

But believe me, there are a lot of people who have difficulty with reading. Surely also in your circle of friends. And for some of them Bionic Reading can help.

Re: Show HN: Bionic Reading – Formats text to make it faster to read

#82

Post by Xophmeister »

I wonder if "word" is the correct unit, here; perhaps "morpheme" would work better, especially for multi-morphemic words or in compound nouns (e.g., in German). I think "syllable" may be a bit too much, unless the purpose was to teach reading. For example:

  ANTIDISESTAblishmentarianism  (initial 40% highlighted)

  vs.

  ANtiDisESTAblishMEntARianIsm  (highlighting rules over morphemes)

  vs.

  AnTiDisEstAbLIshMEntArIAnIsm  (highlighting rules over syllables)
An API that provided this as a service would be less trivial.

The lay-typographer in me really hates the look of it too. Aesthetics don't trump readability, but perhaps there's a middle ground where the font weight drops off (e.g., with exponential decay), rather than having the binary "bold vs. not bold".

Re: Show HN: Bionic Reading – Formats text to make it faster to read

#83

Post by simonhamp »

Not sure if this intentional or just because this site is unfinished, but the repetition of the same paragraph throughout the page probably has the effect of making you believe you've read it faster, but it's more likely just recent familiarity of those words in that order that is allowing your brain to skip ahead rather than a specific visual cue.

I actually found the 'bumpiness' in reading a distraction and I had to read the paragraph a few times to truly get the meaning. So any speed gains from the reading methodology were lost during the understanding phase

Re: Show HN: Bionic Reading – Formats text to make it faster to read

#84

Post by Cthulhu_ »

> Bionic reading aims to encourage a more in-depth reading and understanding of written content

by reading faster? I mean the examples are pretty compelling and it did feel like I was reading faster, but at the same time their goals are at odds - faster reading doesn't necessarily mean more attentive reading, or being able to absorb more information.

Still, interesting technique. I just wish they made their examples / comparisons actual text instead of images; surely they can just write a snippet of JS or some HTML to render the effect in the browser itself. Or would that be giving up their secret sauce?

Also if any of the authors are here, please get rid of the "small text in between big text", I'm not sure if I need to read the one and then the other, or refocus my eyes on the big then the small text.

Re: Show HN: Bionic Reading – Formats text to make it faster to read

#85

Post by renato_casutt »

ryan-allen wrote: post #80

It was faster for me, I learned to read in Australia which apparently doens't have a very sophisticated reading education, sub-vocalisation kept us slow compared to other systems.

Ryan-allen, I'm so glad to hear that. Best regards from the Alps, Renato

Re: Show HN: Bionic Reading – Formats text to make it faster to read

#86

Post by chrismorgan »

debdut wrote: post #78
debdut wrote: post #76

What! This blew me. This magic happening before my eyes. Forget the negative comments here on HN, the fact that you had such an insight, it's awesome. Going constructive on the HN comments, if someone found something, you got a right to protect and earn from it anyway, charging for however a simple idea helps it spread and let's you do more innovation on it. But that said, maybe a library with paid access is a better…

This React component library is monetized to heaven! [1] https://alvarotrigo.com/fullPage/pricing/

It’s also obnoxious and utterly frustrating as an end-user. (I know that’s not the aspect of it you’re remarking on but rather the monetisation, but I find their demo just so painful and the entire idea quite ill-conceived. Scrolljacking is always bad. Stop trying to take over the page flow and just make it a normal page that I can scroll as I desire.)

Re: Show HN: Bionic Reading – Formats text to make it faster to read

#87

Post by renato_casutt »

traceroute66 wrote: post #67
renato_casutt wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I decided to take out a patent a long time ago. Unfortunately I had to make bad experiences, which is why I now want to offer BR as API. With the rules it depends on whether it is short, medium or long words. But in principle it is simple. As simple as we humans read. Eye - brain - representation products (words)

> Unfortunately I had to make bad experiences That has to be the most unfortunate choice of wording ! More seriously though, does BR work in your native Swiss German ?

Sorry for my bad English traceroute66...

I came across BR during my studies as a typographic designer. There was a language problem there.

That's why I realized that reading and listening are completely different. You can understand a language by listening to it. But reading the same language does not mean that you can understand it.

Re: Show HN: Bionic Reading – Formats text to make it faster to read

#88

Post by qwerty456127 »

This seems obvious from the fact I love listening to audio books at 1.75-3x speed but hate actually reading because the latter feels too slow. It even feels hard to me to understand the information (let alone concentrate the attention) at the speed so low as the eyes can supply.

Re: Show HN: Bionic Reading – Formats text to make it faster to read

#89

Post by r_hoods_ghost »

Are there any specific, measurable claims (and evidence) being made here with regards to what this supposed to achieve? "[Encouraging] a more in depth reading and understanding of written content" is pretty vague. Does it help with recall? Memorization etc. Personally it reads like those "dyslexic" fonts which actually make reading harder for a lot of people.

Re: Show HN: Bionic Reading – Formats text to make it faster to read

#90

Post by renato_casutt »

osullip wrote: post #63
rapnie wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, I agree. I guess this technology isn't for everyone. This is a real bummer. They did not have to patent and trademark this method, which in principle is such a basic mechanism. Just had to productize their service really well so they'd take the lead in monetizing.

I disagree 100%. This is amazingly innovative. We have seen letter switching examples and how the brain will try to fill in the gaps. This is superbly unique and justifiably a patent and trademark. The demo works. The rules may be simple. But as the old boat repairman story says, sometimes you need to know where to hit the hammer. Please, please don't use this for evil.

Thank you very much for your answer. No, I will definitely use it for good. For sure.

Best regards from the Alps Renato

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