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Automating Immersive Reading

smoores.dev

11–20 of 53 posts

Re: Automating Immersive Reading

#12
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is actually the exact use case that I originally built Storyteller for! I wanted to listen to my books on long runs, and then switch to reading when I got back. The Storyteller mobile apps have great support for this, I think. They have fully fledged audiobook players and ebook readers, and you can switch between the two with one tap. And then of course you can also double tap on a sentence and start playing fro…

What about reading on a koreader? Is bookbridge still the best bet?

i think smoores response got flagged for some reason, but there’s a StorytellerSync plugin https://github.com/Sirozha1337/storytellersync.koplugin

Re: Automating Immersive Reading

#13
post #2

I took a week of from work recently to reimplement Storyteller's forced alignment algorithm. Storyteller[1] is an open source, self hosted platform for creating, managing, and reading/listening to "readaloud" books — books that have audiobook narration built in and can highlight each sentence (and/or word, with this new algorithm!) as it's read aloud. Forced alignment is the process of determining where each piece of…

This is great. Recently got an xteink x3 and jailbroke my kindle, making custom stuff for it.

I couldn't find it exactly in the docs. Sorry if I missed it.

If you align these and then pull onto koreader via opds or other way, will audio work over Bluetooth there too? Along with the highlighting.

Re: Automating Immersive Reading

#14
post #13
post #2

I took a week of from work recently to reimplement Storyteller's forced alignment algorithm. Storyteller[1] is an open source, self hosted platform for creating, managing, and reading/listening to "readaloud" books — books that have audiobook narration built in and can highlight each sentence (and/or word, with this new algorithm!) as it's read aloud. Forced alignment is the process of determining where each piece of…

This is great. Recently got an xteink x3 and jailbroke my kindle, making custom stuff for it. I couldn't find it exactly in the docs. Sorry if I missed it. If you align these and then pull onto koreader via opds or other way, will audio work over Bluetooth there too? Along with the highlighting.

You can use a KOReader plugin, https://github.com/stradichenko/audiobook.koplugin, which has work-in-progress support for Media Overlays (the EPUB spec that Storyteller uses for readaloud)!

Re: Automating Immersive Reading

#15
This is how I proofread. I play a screen reader while I read my work. The brain does some autocorrecting that you don’t even notice and occasionally skips over a typo when you read it without the audio.

Re: Automating Immersive Reading

#16
post #14
post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is great. Recently got an xteink x3 and jailbroke my kindle, making custom stuff for it. I couldn't find it exactly in the docs. Sorry if I missed it. If you align these and then pull onto koreader via opds or other way, will audio work over Bluetooth there too? Along with the highlighting.

You can use a KOReader plugin, https://github.com/stradichenko/audiobook.koplugin , which has work-in-progress support for Media Overlays (the EPUB spec that Storyteller uses for readaloud)!

Wow I didn't even think about just using on device AI.

I'm going to set this one up and try it with kokoro which has the most natural for small size that I've seen. Wonder if the paperwhite 12th Gen can handle it.

And also setup the main repo for when I have the real audio book. Thanks!

Re: Automating Immersive Reading

#17
This highlights the core reason why I don't like audiobooks, podcasts, or even movies, compared to reading: it's too slow. Looking at the example, I read two or three times as fast as the audio goes.

What I would need is the opposite: some eye-tracking software that plays the audio at the point I am reading. I don't know if it would be any useful though, as it would be very sped-up, but maybe it would increase "immersion" nevertheless.

Re: Automating Immersive Reading

#18
post #17

This highlights the core reason why I don't like audiobooks, podcasts, or even movies, compared to reading: it's too slow. Looking at the example, I read two or three times as fast as the audio goes. What I would need is the opposite: some eye-tracking software that plays the audio at the point I am reading. I don't know if it would be any useful though, as it would be very sped-up, but maybe it would increase "immer…

Almost everyone who uses the readaloud features in Storyteller speeds up the audio playback quite a bit, often 2-3x, so that it matches their reading speed better. The Storyteller apps let you set different playback speeds for pure audio playback vs readaloud, since being able to see the text usually makes it easier to listen faster!

I supposed I should add: it's also, obviously, fine if this just isn't for you! Lots of people get a lot of value out of audiobooks (e.g., I really like to listen to audiobooks in the car or while running), but like to switch to reading when it's an option. And lots of people find readaloud super valuable, whether because they have a print disability or neurodivergence that makes reading challenging, or just because they like the experience of being read to. But lots of people are in neither of those groups!

Re: Automating Immersive Reading

#19
post #17

This highlights the core reason why I don't like audiobooks, podcasts, or even movies, compared to reading: it's too slow. Looking at the example, I read two or three times as fast as the audio goes. What I would need is the opposite: some eye-tracking software that plays the audio at the point I am reading. I don't know if it would be any useful though, as it would be very sped-up, but maybe it would increase "immer…

I read very fast and I noticed that after a certain point, it helps to not have the inner voice. Instead its more like I see a bunch of text and I understand it instead of going word by word. I don't think its possible to do this with audio.
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