Reading with Spritz

Soldim · 02-28-2014, 08:35 AM

Anyone saw this site?

Quote:

For each word, the eye seeks a certain point within the word, which we call the “Optimal Recognition Point” or ORP. After your eyes find the ORP, your brain starts to process the meaning of the word that you’re viewing. With each new word, your eyes move, called a “saccade”, and then your eyes seek out the ORP for that word. Once the ORP is found, processing the word for meaning and context occurs and your eyes move to the next word. When your eyes encounter punctuation within and between sentences, your brain is prompted to assemble all of the words that you have read and processes them into a coherent thought.

When reading, only around 20% of your time is spent processing content. The remaining 80% is spent physically moving your eyes from word to word and scanning for the next ORP. With Spritz we help you get all that time back.

I played a bit with it, and it seems to work well with languages I am familiar with. Less familiar languages make things much more tricky.

HarryT · 02-28-2014, 08:43 AM

This appears to make the mistaken assumption that reading as fast as possible is a desirable goal. That seems to make as much sense as saying that you should always eat a gourmet meal as quickly as possible.

latepaul · 04-22-2014, 10:08 AM

Just reviving this thread to say I just installed Sprint Reader because it popped up as "recommended for you" and I was curious. It appears to be based on the Spritz technology.

I haven't used it enough to really evaluate it but I have read a few pages of a book with it. It's odd at first but I don't feel like I'm losing what I'm reading, I can recall as much of what I've read as I usually can (which is not 100% sadly) I think. I thought I'd hate but so far I don't. Not saying I love it either mind.

Actually what may cause me to abandon it is not the core reading system but the surrounding software. I find the gesture controls confusing and not consistent. You're supposed to be able to tap and let it "read" automatically but sometimes that causes it to stop completely. Also whilst it's possible to rewind or fast-forward fine control is difficult - or maybe I just haven't mastered it yet.

However unlike the Spritz website - which is just a demo - you can load your own epubs into it. Of the handful I've tried it has coped OK with nearly all but one it was displaying code rather than text which is obviously a bit of an issue. I haven't tried it with anything with complicated formatting but then I'd use it for fiction really, which is what I read almost exclusively.

The free version is ad-supported and appears to be capped as to reading speed at about 350wpm - which is above my normal speed so it's good enough to test whether I like it or not.

Marcy · 04-24-2014, 09:50 AM

I wouldn't like this for fiction books, which I want to read at whatever pace is comfortable and enjoy them. However I would love it for reading long research protocols and other similar boring things that I have to read for work, which take me forever because I get bored and then I'm easily distracted when I'm bored. If this could keep my reading speed up and keep me from wandering it would definitely save me some time.

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02-28-2014, 08:43 AM	#2
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	This appears to make the mistaken assumption that reading as fast as possible is a desirable goal. That seems to make as much sense as saying that you should always eat a gourmet meal as quickly as possible.

04-22-2014, 10:08 AM	#3
latepaul Wizard Posts: 1,264 Karma: 10203040 Join Date: Dec 2011 Device: a variety (mostly kindles and kobos)	Just reviving this thread to say I just installed Sprint Reader because it popped up as "recommended for you" and I was curious. It appears to be based on the Spritz technology. I haven't used it enough to really evaluate it but I have read a few pages of a book with it. It's odd at first but I don't feel like I'm losing what I'm reading, I can recall as much of what I've read as I usually can (which is not 100% sadly) I think. I thought I'd hate but so far I don't. Not saying I love it either mind. Actually what may cause me to abandon it is not the core reading system but the surrounding software. I find the gesture controls confusing and not consistent. You're supposed to be able to tap and let it "read" automatically but sometimes that causes it to stop completely. Also whilst it's possible to rewind or fast-forward fine control is difficult - or maybe I just haven't mastered it yet. However unlike the Spritz website - which is just a demo - you can load your own epubs into it. Of the handful I've tried it has coped OK with nearly all but one it was displaying code rather than text which is obviously a bit of an issue. I haven't tried it with anything with complicated formatting but then I'd use it for fiction really, which is what I read almost exclusively. The free version is ad-supported and appears to be capped as to reading speed at about 350wpm - which is above my normal speed so it's good enough to test whether I like it or not.

04-24-2014, 09:50 AM	#4
Marcy Guru Posts: 893 Karma: 950683 Join Date: Oct 2009 Device: Kobo Libra2	I wouldn't like this for fiction books, which I want to read at whatever pace is comfortable and enjoy them. However I would love it for reading long research protocols and other similar boring things that I have to read for work, which take me forever because I get bored and then I'm easily distracted when I'm bored. If this could keep my reading speed up and keep me from wandering it would definitely save me some time.

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