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Spritz – read 500 words per minute without any training

spritzinc.com

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Re: Spritz – read 500 words per minute without any training

#171

Post by kybernetikos »

tzs wrote: post #30

I played around with something like this a while ago (my files have 2004 timestamps, but those may have updated when I copied stuff to a new computer). I had a command-line based program that took text and displayed it a word at a time. If anyone would like to play around with it, here's my source. Compile: c++ speedread.cpp Usage: ./a.out [delay_in_ms] Should work on Mac and Linux, and maybe Windows if you uncomment…

I also did an RSVP app many years ago. I did mine for j2me - http://kybernetikos.com/bookreader-and-bookreaderdeployer/ and read books from gutenberg on my mobile phone at the time. It had pause and jump forward/backward as many people in this thread are saying is important to them.

The FAQ tries to make the claim that Spritz is not just another RSVP speed reader (although I'm not sure how much I believe it).

> Reading with RSVP is somewhat stressful and the reading speed is limited. Reasons therefore are the word alignment and display times. Briefly, RSVP still forces the eye to perform saccades (eye movements) while removing targeting these saccades by peripheral visioning. Spritz instead takes saccades out of the game by applying a new method of word alignment. Our technology is based on the science of how people read, how they learned to read when they were young, and what your eyes expect when you are reading.

http://www.spritzinc.com/faq/

Re: Spritz – read 500 words per minute without any training

#173

Post by ciex »

Fishkins wrote: post #145
lukev wrote: post #40

This is very interesting (and as has been pointed out in other comments, not exactly a new idea). I think its proper application, though, is in a tool for practicing reading, not for actually reading tests. One major thing this approach looses is the inherent non-linearity of text. If I miss a fact and want to back up a bit, or want to pause for a moment and think about something, I can (when reading) without even th…

> this tool is truly excellent for breaking the subvocalization habit Which, according to all the research I've seen, is exactly what you don't want to do if you want to retain any information. (I couldn't find the study I remembered reading recently, but this article references some such studies http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4229 )

You don't want to break it in the sense that you stop doing it altogether. Just as lukev said, you would want to learn controlling it to your advantage - slowing down and speeding up depending on what you a reading.

Re: Spritz – read 500 words per minute without any training

#174

Post by Paul_S »

"Spritzing is reading text with Spritz Inc.’s patent-pending technology."

You might as well patent the alphabet, I don't mind. Albeit mostly because I don't live in the US. I don't see how your online service will be able to compete with a free program that does this locally on my machine at no charge.

Then again I'm fairly out of touch with the world. I heard a sales-person describe a website as a cloud service and I no longer think I understand technology anymore.

Re: Spritz – read 500 words per minute without any training

#176

Post by lewaldman »

lukev wrote: post #40

This is very interesting (and as has been pointed out in other comments, not exactly a new idea). I think its proper application, though, is in a tool for practicing reading, not for actually reading tests. One major thing this approach looses is the inherent non-linearity of text. If I miss a fact and want to back up a bit, or want to pause for a moment and think about something, I can (when reading) without even th…

Ok... but almost all that you said is a UX Issue...

Imagine an UI with a circle and the spritz box above. You put your thumb in the middle, push right it starts to show the words forward, push farther from midle => faster. Push it left => slower. Left after middle, rewinding text.

You could even use up, down to go back entiry frases or paragraphs.

Regarding linearity, you could use color/color fading to wrap phrases, or show two to four words per time moving just the red letter according to speed.

Personally... I think it's an amazing Idea! :)

Re: Spritz – read 500 words per minute without any training

#178

Post by blake8086 »

userbinator wrote: post #118
lukev wrote: post #40

This is very interesting (and as has been pointed out in other comments, not exactly a new idea). I think its proper application, though, is in a tool for practicing reading, not for actually reading tests. One major thing this approach looses is the inherent non-linearity of text. If I miss a fact and want to back up a bit, or want to pause for a moment and think about something, I can (when reading) without even th…

I just did a random reading speed test and got 1640wpm with 90% comprehension, and I definitely do not read linearly -- it's hard to explain, but I often find that I scan far ahead and see the ends of sentences before their starting words, then wander around somewhat randomly in the middle of them. I'll notice typos and grammar errors several sentences or even a paragraph after where it occurs, probably meaning that…

Hey, I read like you, how can I get in touch with you? I have a few questions.

Re: Spritz – read 500 words per minute without any training

#180

Post by millzlane »

kenny_r wrote: post #113
quarterto wrote: post #112

Wow. I found "reading" their demo a deeply unpleasant experience. It seemed to induce tunnel vision, and put a huge amount of strain on my lenses. The dark background of the page surrounding the banner didn't help, and persisted in my vision for a good 5 minutes. My eyes still hurt.

I found the demo very impressive but I too have a large blue bar persisting in my vision right now. Very peculiar.

I too still have the blue bar in my vision. It's been there for about 4 minutes. I'm also sitting about 4' away from a 40" TV. I was able to read everything at all the speeds though.
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