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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

#231

Post by Llamamoe »

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #84

> 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…

I think the less friction there is between the words on a screen and you having them in your head, the more readily you're going to absorb it. And attention is a demanding resource to expend, even if non-ADHD people don't notice it due to having ample supply.

But yes, this would be awesome to see as a browser extension. Maybe I'll get around to it at some distant point in the future.

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

#232

Post by jxy »

pxeger1 wrote: post #22

This does indeed seem to work for me, but the repeated emphasis on the patents and trademarks makes me suspicious. It looks like a company who cares much more about patent royalties than about their invention - whom I would never be willing to give my money to. Having seen the principle, I could write a browser extension in an hour. I suppose I'll have to wait 25 years (or whatever the French patent expiry length is)…

𝐈 𝐜an'𝐭 𝐫ea𝐝 𝐭h𝐞 𝐩anten𝐭. 𝐖ha𝐭 𝐚bou𝐭 𝐬om𝐞 𝐯arian𝐭? 𝐃oe𝐬 𝐭hi𝐬 𝐭ex𝐭 𝐫ea𝐝 𝐛ette𝐫 𝐨𝐫 𝐰ors𝐞?

𝐖𝐡a𝐭 a𝐛ou𝐭 𝐭𝐡i𝐬 𝐭e𝐱𝐭? 𝐖ou𝐥𝐝 a𝐧y𝐭𝐡i𝐧𝐠 𝐰o𝐫𝐤 𝐛e𝐭𝐭e𝐫 𝐭𝐡a𝐧 𝐬i𝐦𝐩𝐥e 𝐩𝐥ai𝐧 𝐭e𝐱𝐭?

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

#233

Post by gnicholas »

enduku wrote: post #230

Great work, congrats! Another app Beeline Reader[0] seems a lot similar to this. It was launched many years ago I suppose. All the best with the product! [0] https://www.beelinereader.com/

BeeLine founder here — I'd say we are similar in that we both work to improve visual tracking and speed up the reading process. BeeLine's focus is perhaps more on return sweeps, but in the grand scheme of things, we're both pushing in the same direction!

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

#234

Post by btbuildem »

I like how this leverages the fact we don't have to read the entire word, or that letters in the middle of the word can be jumbled and we still read it correctly.

Very cool insight in emphasizing the "important" parts of the words. For me at least, it seems to have worked - it felt like less effort to glide over the paragraph of text and take in the content.

As far as it becoming a product.. I'm sorry, but people will immediately rip this off. Someone will make a free browser extension, or add this to an existing one like Outline / Mercury Reader / etc. To enforce patents you have to have money to pay the lawyers, so for small fry they're kind of useless.

Very cool idea all the same, and I would love to see this embedded in anything that displays text.

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

#236

Post by Llamamoe »

Dangeranger wrote: post #218

I’ve used both Bionic Reading while on Reeder, and the Open Dyslexic font while on Kindle, for several years to similar effect. My personal finding is that it makes the work my eyes need to do to keep on the line, and move from line to line easier. But I will note that the largest increase in reading speed for me, up to 800 words per minute, came from single word focusing. There are tools, such as speed reader mode i…

Out of curiosity, how do dyslexic friendly fonts work? Are they easier for everyone, or is it a case of compensating dyslexia related deficits specifically?

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

#237

Post by Llamamoe »

Dangeranger wrote: post #218

I’ve used both Bionic Reading while on Reeder, and the Open Dyslexic font while on Kindle, for several years to similar effect. My personal finding is that it makes the work my eyes need to do to keep on the line, and move from line to line easier. But I will note that the largest increase in reading speed for me, up to 800 words per minute, came from single word focusing. There are tools, such as speed reader mode i…

Speaking of listening to sped up speech, I wonder if there's any tricks like BR possible for speech. Hm.

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

#238

Post by Llamamoe »

renato_casutt wrote: post #69
mdp2021 wrote: post #50

Why are you patenting ~"Highlight the first half of a printed word", Renato? Do you think that is patent material?

Hi mdp2021 I understand your skepticism. The point is that the reader needs a fixed point to absorb the text. That's why this definition is placed. As shared in other comments, I unfortunately had to make very bad experiences. And the responsibility I perceive among others Marco (feedback website), I do not want to jeopardize. But I understand your objections. Best regards from the Alps Renato

How do you decide which letters to highlight? Is it the first half in every case? Did you conduct any trials to see whether this yields the fastest reading speeds?

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

#239

Post by wccrawford »

ryan-allen wrote: post #77
wccrawford wrote: post #75

I couldn't find anyone else with my experience: No change at all. I wasn't faster or slower on either side, as far as I could tell.

A friend of mine from another country with a different teaching style, when I showed him some speed reading apps laughed, saying that he was taught not to sub-vocalise words, and he is a smart guy. So maybe you have something similar?`

I had heard about that before, and I definitely try not to subvocalize now, so maybe that's the difference. I'm mainly surprised that so many people recognize it as definitely faster or slower, and so few that see no difference.
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