Speed reading 2.0

August 17, 2006 12:00 AM

Zap Reader. Browser-based reader that takes selected text and flashes them one (or two, or three) at a time on the screen for super-fast speed reading. Scroll down for the tutorial video. Convenient or headache-inducing? You be the judge.
posted by zardoz (23 comments total)

Not headache inducing, and the controls are very well thought out. I'll have to give it further testing tomorrow.
posted by bigmusic at 12:31 AM on August 17, 2006

It sort of works, but I'm not sure reading is much fun using this, just functional. It feels like you're injecting words into your head.
posted by chorltonmeateater at 12:39 AM on August 17, 2006

I find that I get lost when I'm shown very large words I am unfamiliar with, especially after very small words.

Maybe it's because I put in the wikipedia entry for speed reading, and it kept using words like "tachistoscope" after words like "the."

Interesting concept, though. I'll have to check it out when I'm less tired and have more of a tolerance for things blinking at me.
posted by SmileyChewtrain at 12:48 AM on August 17, 2006

Um. Is it just me, or do I read a lot faster than that normally?
posted by stenseng at 12:50 AM on August 17, 2006

Also, when I read, I don't look at one word at a time...

I sort of see the whole sentence, or a clump of words, or a phrase.

This zap reader thing seems like it would bring comprehension down, as there's no context for the words - you cant look at them together, and there's no way to easily glance back and reread something, if you've missed it.
posted by stenseng at 12:51 AM on August 17, 2006

For instance, glancing over my previous sentence, I would have read/viewed it as:

This zap reader thing | seems like it would bring comprehension down, | as there's no context for the words - | you cant look at them | together, and there's no way to easily glance back | and reread something, | if you've missed it.
posted by stenseng at 12:53 AM on August 17, 2006

stenseng-

In the settings, try setting it for a lower speed and larger number of words, like 4 or 5. This way you can do the "clumping"...I do the same thing and it works better that way.
posted by zardoz at 12:55 AM on August 17, 2006

Totally a self link, but related: a few years ago I made a similar Java based tachistoscope that can read from local files or remote web sites. I thought it was pretty silly, but according my logs it gets a bit of use.
posted by AndrewStephens at 12:59 AM on August 17, 2006

Interesting concept. I may try it on a few different types of text, say acedemia vs fiction, etc . . . The problem, in addition to the comprehension problem listed above, though, is the lack of formating reduces the communication of written language.

For examples, commas may be there, but they're harder to grasp without the whole context. They also speed by way too fast - where's my pause! I must pause at a comma. No paragraph brakes or indenting. No italics (at least not in the web demo).

Its like the lyrics of a song without music.
posted by [insert clever name here] at 1:00 AM on August 17, 2006

Reminds me of a cheesy music video where. every. word. is. full. of. thunder. and. emo.

(Matthew Good Band comes to mind, but there are many others).
posted by rinkjustice at 3:48 AM on August 17, 2006

..and I like that.
posted by rinkjustice at 3:49 AM on August 17, 2006

Back in the early 70s (middle school) there was a projector - looked like a cross between slide and filmstrip - that did same effect projected on a wall. We'd set it to whatever speed was comfortable and then be tested on retention.

One of the options was projecting phrases (per stenseng comment above) but this included a tracer line that the eye followed across the words. That way you could gauge the speed better since you know when the next set is coming. And it paced you into a nice steady rhythm that letterforms and spaces by themselves tended to break apart.

Thanks for the post.
posted by hal9k at 5:51 AM on August 17, 2006

Does anyone have a link to that guy that would take blogs and text from message boards and flash animate the words (similar to this) and sync it up with crazy drum solos? I kinda thought that was cool.
posted by Hanover Phist at 6:16 AM on August 17, 2006

I used to use AceReader years ago. Funny it's not even mentioned in the wikipedia article.
posted by banished at 6:23 AM on August 17, 2006

And here I was thinking that Zap Reader was that guy who took that 8 mm footage of the JFK assassination.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 6:56 AM on August 17, 2006

It also doesn't let you scan for keywords, which is essential for good speed reading. Instead, "and the" is treated with equal weight as "central thesis"
posted by Deathalicious at 7:46 AM on August 17, 2006

"Back in the early 70s (middle school) there was a projector - looked like a cross between slide and filmstrip - that did same effect projected on a wall. We'd set it to whatever speed was comfortable and then be tested on retention."


Tachistoscope.
posted by FauxScot at 8:34 AM on August 17, 2006

The benefit of learning to speed read on your own is that you're allowed to blink. This might be a good learning tool, however.
posted by zennie at 12:29 PM on August 17, 2006

I used to have a little hand-held tachistoscope that I played with when I was a kid. It was a white sort of flat sleeve, plastic, I think, and came with cards you slid into it. There was a spring-loaded shutter that revealed a little window with a word, phrase, number or whatever series was on that particular card. I have no idea what that thing was called, other than a tachistoscope, but would love to find one again. Ring any bells for anyone?
posted by bink at 1:07 PM on August 17, 2006

If you paste in all the words from the cards in Dylan's Subterranean Homesick Blues video, does it make him sound like Alvin Chipmunk?

What? Oh.
posted by moonface at 1:49 PM on August 17, 2006

I just tried it with the Guardian site.

I could read all the font tags just fine, but I'm not sure that was the plan.....
posted by pompomtom at 11:38 PM on August 17, 2006

I daresay YHCHANG is going to sue.
posted by malusmoriendumest at 4:19 AM on August 18, 2006

This is a form of Rapid Serial Visual Presentation (RSVP), which has a large literature, some of which is google-able.

There is a short Wikipedia stub on RSVP, which does not seem to be crosslinked with the article on speedreading ...
posted by nickp at 12:09 AM on August 24, 2006