add reading training to viewer

DescendingNerdli · 08-08-2018, 05:42 PM

Training the eyes to move fluidly across a page has proven to be effective in remediating many reading issues, not the least of which is dislexia.
I would like to add this functionality to the Calibre viewer, but, as a novice in every respect, I need help to get started, at the very least.

My approach is to change the foreground color of the page to the background color and restore the foreground color one word at a time, or even one syllable at a time if selected, at a selectable speed. Then, restore the colors to normal at the end of the piece. Cursor controls would be used to back up and move ahead, etc.

I wrote a macro in MSWord once to do this that was effective, but Calibre seems an ideal medium for the functionality.

As I said, I am a novice with both Calibre and Python and I would appreciate your help.

Thank you!

BetterRed · 08-08-2018, 07:22 PM

@DescendingNerdli - the calibre viewer is currently being rewritten, it will be part of Calibre 4. I'm not sure if the new implementation will have a plugin interface, AFAIK the current viewer does not support plugins.

Accordingly I'm moving this thread into the main calibre forum where Kovid will probably add his wisdom to the thread

BR

DescendingNerdli · 08-08-2018, 10:58 PM

Thanks!

kovidgoyal · 08-08-2018, 11:03 PM

The viewer does support plugins, I think there are even some existing plugins for it, such as the text to speech plugin.

But, as BR said, the viewer is being re-written. Once that rewrite is done and calibre 4 is released, feel free to ping me and we can discuss the requires API for plugins in the new viewer. The bonus is that if you write a plugin fo rthe new viewer you will be able to adadpt it to the in-browser viewer that is part of the calibre content server relatively easily as well.

DescendingNerdli · 08-08-2018, 11:19 PM

do you know when that might happen? or is it possible to get in on the rewrite and perhaps add the functionality there.

kovidgoyal · 08-08-2018, 11:27 PM

Probably the next month or two. I'm afraid this feature is not suitable for inclusion in the core. But if you wish to get started right away you can look at the current calibre browser viewer via the calibre content server and contribute the needed plugin hooks for it, which the main calibre viewer will then automatically inherit.

And the viewer development is happening in the engine branch of the calibre github repository.

BetterRed · 08-08-2018, 11:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

The viewer does support plugins, I think there are even some existing plugins for it, such as the text to speech plugin.

brainfart

@DescendingNerdli - see [Viewer Plugin] Text to Speech for example of a current Viewer plugin

BR

davidfor · 08-09-2018, 04:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kovidgoyal

Probably the next month or two. I'm afraid this feature is not suitable for inclusion in the core. But if you wish to get started right away you can look at the current calibre browser viewer via the calibre content server and contribute the needed plugin hooks for it, which the main calibre viewer will then automatically inherit.

That soon? Bugger, that means I might have to live up to my promise to fetch annotations from devices to the viewer. Of course, its probably only going to be practical for epubs on Kobo's. It will depend on how the locations are stored in calibre.

kovidgoyal · 08-09-2018, 12:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davidfor

That soon? Bugger, that means I might have to live up to my promise to fetch annotations from devices to the viewer. Of course, its probably only going to be practical for epubs on Kobo's. It will depend on how the locations are stored in calibre.

Dont worry, the rewrite will be basically feature equivalent to the current viewer. I will add annotations after 4, so you still have some time left

But probably not too long as one of my main goals with the rewrite is to enable annotations.

jackie_w · 08-09-2018, 01:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DescendingNerdli

My approach is to change the foreground color of the page to the background color and restore the foreground color one word at a time, or even one syllable at a time if selected, at a selectable speed. Then, restore the colors to normal at the end of the piece. Cursor controls would be used to back up and move ahead, etc.

I don't know whether this may be of use to you as a temporary option ...

The freeware Balabolka program is mainly a text-to-speech program but it does also contain a Spritz-Reader tool. You can use Balabolka with calibre's 'Open With' feature to open any epub (maybe other formats, too) then use Spritz-Reader to display one word at a time. You can configure the words-per-minute speed and the background/foreground colours.

DescendingNerdli · 08-12-2018, 01:15 AM

Thanks Jackie!

I found Easy eBook Viewer by Michal Daniel on github. It is a very limited viewer, but has a small code base that will be easier to get my head around. I plan to encapsulate the trainer in that so it will be easy to move to Calibre later.

08-08-2018, 05:42 PM	#1
DescendingNerdli Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2018 Device: Calibre	add reading training to viewer Training the eyes to move fluidly across a page has proven to be effective in remediating many reading issues, not the least of which is dislexia. I would like to add this functionality to the Calibre viewer, but, as a novice in every respect, I need help to get started, at the very least. My approach is to change the foreground color of the page to the background color and restore the foreground color one word at a time, or even one syllable at a time if selected, at a selectable speed. Then, restore the colors to normal at the end of the piece. Cursor controls would be used to back up and move ahead, etc. I wrote a macro in MSWord once to do this that was effective, but Calibre seems an ideal medium for the functionality. As I said, I am a novice with both Calibre and Python and I would appreciate your help. Thank you!

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08-08-2018, 07:22 PM	#2
BetterRed null operator (he/him) Posts: 20,553 Karma: 26954694 Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Sydney Australia Device: none	@DescendingNerdli - the calibre viewer is currently being rewritten, it will be part of Calibre 4. I'm not sure if the new implementation will have a plugin interface, AFAIK the current viewer does not support plugins. Accordingly I'm moving this thread into the main calibre forum where Kovid will probably add his wisdom to the thread BR

08-08-2018, 10:58 PM	#3
DescendingNerdli Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2018 Device: Calibre	Thanks!

08-08-2018, 11:03 PM	#4
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 43,843 Karma: 22666666 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	The viewer does support plugins, I think there are even some existing plugins for it, such as the text to speech plugin. But, as BR said, the viewer is being re-written. Once that rewrite is done and calibre 4 is released, feel free to ping me and we can discuss the requires API for plugins in the new viewer. The bonus is that if you write a plugin fo rthe new viewer you will be able to adadpt it to the in-browser viewer that is part of the calibre content server relatively easily as well.

08-08-2018, 11:19 PM	#5
DescendingNerdli Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2018 Device: Calibre	do you know when that might happen? or is it possible to get in on the rewrite and perhaps add the functionality there.

08-08-2018, 11:27 PM	#6
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 43,843 Karma: 22666666 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	Probably the next month or two. I'm afraid this feature is not suitable for inclusion in the core. But if you wish to get started right away you can look at the current calibre browser viewer via the calibre content server and contribute the needed plugin hooks for it, which the main calibre viewer will then automatically inherit. And the viewer development is happening in the engine branch of the calibre github repository.

08-12-2018, 01:15 AM	#11
DescendingNerdli Junior Member Posts: 4 Karma: 10 Join Date: Apr 2018 Device: Calibre	Thanks Jackie! I found Easy eBook Viewer by Michal Daniel on github. It is a very limited viewer, but has a small code base that will be easier to get my head around. I plan to encapsulate the trainer in that so it will be easy to move to Calibre later.