Seeing as I’m currently without a mouse, what better way to be productive than to utilize the keyboard right?!?! Haha! Kidding aside , here I feature an alternative way to get through books with speed – Balto!
Very apt icon right there if I might say so myself. This app allows for many popular book and text formats such as PDF, EPUB, TXT and more so you really wont have an issue using it. Based on the idea of all words having an Optimal Recognition Point (ORP) and utilizing a technique called Rapid Serial Visual Presentation (RSVP) you can control how fast you’d want to go through a part of the book, the app even providing you with a countdown timer on the side (which you can choose not to display) so you’ll know just how much time you’d actually require going thru a specific rate.
The interface is as such – oriented horizontally outright:
all the controls pretty easy to understand, and all the speed markers to track your progression in a very accessible area; of course you could orient it vertically as well as it is easier to hold a device in portrait:
with the caveat that longer words extend out of the page at times. Of course if you were using a tablet you might very well consider the vertical orientation.
The red letter is the ORP and it is always at the center of the screen which allows your mind to immediately recognize a flash of a word through its length, shape, etc. You can choose whether it displays it in red or not as some people might find it distracting, I have it set to on currently.
I have been trying it out and it does work, you even train your brain to read at a certain rate and eventually feel that you’re wasting your time at your current speed making you attempt at a faster display setting.
You can play with the free version here, there is a pro version for a dollar (~45Php) on the Play Store. Train and go through books at an unbelievable speed with it.
Add Comment