The blog Elite Daily quite literally  caught my eye yesterday with a visually stunning demonstration provided by the software developer Spritz of genuinely radical new reading technology that takes the basic science of how our eyes process visual information and applies it in ways that allow the brain to understand and even remember  words far faster than through conventional reading or traditional “speed reading” techniques. What’s especially great about the post (and Spritz’s website) is that they don’t just explain how this works – they actually let you try it for yourself. The implications – e.g., being able to read standard-sized novels in 90 minutes or less – are indeed staggering. Spritz also includes a very informative video regarding the technology as well.

As to the specific technological advance, Elite Daily provides this synopsis:

“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.”

Although it’s not yet clear when the product will be released and whether it will be available on all platforms (so far, only Samsung is mentioned), it’s absolutely worth going to the above link and trying this out. Three demonstrations are provided at speeds of 250 words per minute, 350 words per minute and finally 500 words per minute. With minimal practice, I found even the highest setting quite comfortable.

Who knows? Perhaps I’ll actually start reading – uh – books . . . If only this had been around back in law school!