[GUI Plugin] Streamer - RSVP Speed Reader plugin for Calibre

[npapadacis]

Hi all,

I've been working on an RSVP (Rapid Serial Visual Presentation) speed reader that works both as a Calibre plugin and a standalone desktop app. Thought I'd share it here.

What is it?

Streamer displays words one at a time at a fixed screen position, eliminating eye movement and allowing comfortable reading at 300–800+ WPM. Each word is aligned at its Optimal Recognition Point (ORP) - the character where your eye naturally fixates - using pixel-accurate font metrics rather than the monospace hack most RSVP readers use.

Key features:

• Page view - browse your book with full rich text rendering (bold, italic, images) before starting speed reading. Double-click any word to begin reading from that point.
• Spritz-style ORP guides - horizontal lines with triangular notch markers pointing at the focus character, configurable (notches / lines / none)
• Adaptive word timing - 12 heuristics adjust display duration per word: proper nouns (+50%), numbers (+25%), hyphenated compounds (+40%), punctuation pauses, ellipsis dramatic pause, function word speed-up, and more
• Speed curves - automatic ease-in when you start reading (ramps from 40% to full speed over the first 10 words), ease-out approaching chapter boundaries
• 3-2-1 countdown transition before reading begins
• Sentence context - previous words accumulate above the current word with word wrapping, so you don't lose your place
• Per-book profiles - your reading position, WPM, and chunk size are saved per book and restored when you reopen it
• Chapter sidebar - clickable chapter list with keyboard navigation
  Progress bar with chapter boundary tick marks and click-to-seek
• Three themes - Dark, Light, and Warm (pale book-page yellow)
• Configurable everything - settings dialog with tabs for appearance (guide style, ORP colour, context lines), reading (speed curves, countdown), and timing heuristics (every multiplier adjustable)
• Multi-format - epub, mobi, azw, azw3, txt, html, fb2 (Calibre handles conversion for other formats)
• 1/2/3 word display modes - chunked display with timing that scales proportionally

Calibre integration:

Install the plugin, add "Speed Read" to your toolbar, select a book, click the button. Non-epub formats are automatically converted via Calibre's pipeline. Bookmarks persist between sessions using Calibre's book ID, so they survive library moves. Full feature parity with the standalone version, same menus, settings, themes, keyboard shortcuts.

Keyboard shortcuts:

Key        Action
Space      Play / Pause
← / →      Previous / Next sentence
[ / ]      Previous / Next chapter
P          Toggle page view / speed read
C          Toggle chapter sidebar
?          Keyboard shortcuts overlay

Installation:

Download Streamer.zip from [link]
In Calibre: Preferences → Plugins → Load plugin from file → select the zip
Restart Calibre
Right-click toolbar → Add your own buttons → add "Speed Read"
A standalone version (no Calibre needed) is also available as a Windows executable.

Tech details for the curious:

• Python 3.10+ / PySide6 (standalone) / PyQt6 (Calibre) via compatibility shim
• Pure Python timing engine with no GUI dependencies. All word timing heuristics are in a single testable module
• 127 unit tests

Would love to hear any feedback. Any features you'd want to see?

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[npapadacis]

Placeholder post for test versions.

[Comfy.n]

Originally Posted by npapadacis

Would love to hear any feedback. Any features you'd want to see?

It works fine, congrats! I find the plugin interface very interesting. One feature I can always appreciate is to set the body width like... max-width 650px. I do something like this a lot when user-styling web pages. IMO, it needs geometry persistence and portable install awareness. BTW, I got the below message the first time I tried to open config folder

Spoiler:

Traceback (most recent call last):
File "calibre_plugins.streamer.ui.settings_dialog", line 259, in _open_config_folder
FileNotFoundError: [WinError 2] The system cannot find the file specified: 'C:\\Users\\user\\AppData\\Roaming\\calibre-ebook.com\\calibre\\streamer'

[npapadacis]

Thanks for the feedback. I guess I fell into that trap of "well it works on my computer" :-)

I'll take a look at removing size defaults and adding geometry saving and monitor awareness.

The error will be because the folder doesn't exist at that moment, but you are right, it's also the incorrect folder for portable mode. I'll pull through the calibre config path in Calibre mode.

[npapadacis]

v1.1.0
Changelog
Window geometry persistence, portable Calibre config, and flexible sizing

• Save/restore window size, position, monitor, and maximized state across sessions
• Use Calibre's config_dir for portable install support instead of QStandardPaths
• Ensure config folder exists before opening it in settings dialog
• Screen-relative default window size (60% width, 85% height, capped)
• Split controls into two rows and lower minimum constraints so the window can shrink to 450px wide
• Persist chapter sidebar open/closed state in settings