Interesting New Technology: Spritz Speed Reading
Elite Daily said it well when they said, “The reading game is about to change forever.”
First try using Spritz at a speed that the average American reads, 250 Words Per Minute:
Now, what exactly is Spritz?
Spritzing is reading text with Spritz Inc.’s patent-pending technology. When you’re spritzing, you’re reading text one word at a time in our “redicle,” a special visual frame we designed for reading.
Why does Spritzing work so efficiently?
What Spritz does differently (and brilliantly) is manipulate the format of the words to more appropriately line them up with the eye’s natural motion of reading.
The “Optimal Recognition Point” (ORP) is slightly left of the center of each word, and is the precise point at which our brain deciphers each jumble of letters.
The unique aspect of Spritz is that it identifies the ORP of each word, makes that letter red and presents all of the ORPs at the same space on the screen.
In this way, our eyes don’t move at all as we see the words, and we can therefore process information instantaneously rather than spend time decoding each word.
Try it again, this time Spritzing at an average of 350 words per minute.
I’m not too sure how many people would use the 500 words per minute feature, but if you are studying for a class you don’t really like…..
The most important question: When can we actually use Spritz? This is the company’s answer on their website:
So far we have received interest in licensing our technologies from content providers, mobile device manufacturers, educational software developers, web portals, wearable manufacturers, e-book companies, and several others. We are actively working with these companies to bring Spritz to you. If you are interested in helping us bring Spritz to your website, mobile app or anything else, please visit us in the Developers section and sign up for more information.
Looking forward to testing out this technology with a real book soon. Let us know if you have done any reading with this technology and if you like it!
Sounds awesome but must admit I’m a bit of a skeptic of the utility of this.
Don’t get me wrong…. Having the ability to keep the eyes on one spot of the screen while reading is incredible. it’s a disruptive technology no doubt…. They’ll crush it from a business perspective.
Brian, I like the approach you & I take while reading: taking notes & reviewing the notes periodically (every six months). It’s so helpful…. each time I go back to the notes, I feel like I’m rereading the book! Great for retention.
Before implementing this approach, one of my problems w/ reading was that I was not retaining info for an extended period of time. I would read a book…. then one year later have very recollection of what I had read.
I recently heard an interesting idea: reading ONLY 3 books for an entire year. Reading/studying/mastering them intensely for the year. The idea was that reading more than that is too much info & it dilutes overall retention.
This app seems very “Western” in a sense that it’s fueled by efficiency & the “more, more, more” attitude. What good is reading 400 books per year if you can’t provide a short summary for any of them off the top of your head? I think the answer lies somewhere in between the 3 book per year approach & the 400 books on Spritz…. but everyone’s different!
To everyone: What’s your approach to reading?
Do you take notes?
How many books do you crush per year?
How many would you like to crush each year?
What are your thoughts on Spritz?
I agree with your assessment Paz. Spritz seems a little too “Western”. While the technology is super interesting and seems to improve efficiency, I prefer to view reading as a pleasurable activity. I am “old-school” in the sense that I still enjoy a physical book with pages that I can turn. If I want to take notes, there are margins to write them in. Once done reading, I can mark my page with a bookmark or by simply folding the corner down. I understand the utility that can be gained from e-readers and Spritz, but I have not become a convert yet.
I agree with you both, 100%.
I had been reading normal books from the library for the past two years before I went on the road. Recently I started using the Amazon Kindle. I love it for a few different reasons; the presentation is beautiful, the highlighting feature is awesome (you can export your notes/highlights to a document), and it is so small that it is so easy to travel with. I think I will continue using the e-reader even when we return home.
I try to underline books as I read them and then go back and record in note form what I underlined.
I currently read anywhere from 10-20 books (over the past three years). I’m not sure if I have a goal of reading a specific amount of books. I would like to enjoy what I am reading and put down a book if I don’t enjoy it (I struggle with the latter).
I think Spritz can be very efficient for studying and reading. Whether that be business material or school material I think that somewhere down the line this technology can be beneficial.
I should note that I have trouble retaining any information after a certain amount of time. After five-ten years I certainly cant remember movie titles, book names, content of books, friendships, relationships. It is hard to “remember it all!” I think retention after long periods of time will be difficult when people Spritz.
Sometimes reading a book is a nice way to get AWAY from a computer screen. I like the idea of having the option, but it seems like it would take away the pleasure of reading a book!
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