Speed Reading

What if you could read faster? I mean, significantly faster? I know it's not the most exciting super power you could think of, but it actually could be huge... I mean, it takes us one step closer to this:

Now he knows Kung Fu.

So we may not be there yet, but there's a new app on the block, and I think it looks pretty exciting. Introducing Spritz, an app that promises to revolutionize the way we read and process information. According to Spritz:

When you read a word, your eyes naturally fixate at one point in that word [Optimal Recognition Point” or ORP], which visually triggers the brain to recognize the word and process its meaning...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.

Apparently, we don't give our brains enough credit. We don't really need a full word to read, just a certain letter in that word. What Spritz does, is highlight that letter in every word, and then it flashes the words to you, one at a time, so that the highlighted letter is always in the same spot. Your eyes never have to move, and your brain, somehow, understands these words almost immediately without having to think about it. I know this seems too good to be true, but just take some examples:

This is Spritzing at 250 WPM, about the speed of an average college reader.

But now things get a little more interesting...

This is Spritzing at 350 WPM

And this is Spritzing at 500 WPM!

Images courtesy of Huffington Post

Were you able to read all of those? Maybe, maybe not, but with enough practice, you should be able to handle the 500 WPM box like a champ, and Spritz can actually go up to 1,000 WPM! I think the main question will be: How much of this information will you brain actually retain? According to Spritz testing: "retention levels when spritzing are at least as good as with traditional reading and...with just a little bit of experience, you will retain even more than you did before." Interesting...

So how fast is 1,000 WPM? If you read at 1,000 WPM, you would be able to read a 300 page book in about 75 minutes. Hot damn, that's fast! I think the most exciting part about this app is that it doesn't need much real estate to do it's job. You could use this on your smartphone, your SmartWatch, your Galaxy Gear, your Google Glass (although you will still look silly), etc... So many possibilities!

Will you Spritz?