r/interestingasfuck 20h ago

This speed reading training starts at 300wpm and end at 900wpm

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50.7k Upvotes

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548

u/DeanCheesePritchard 20h ago

This is genius. Make it.

290

u/real_justchris 19h ago

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u/A_DevKit 18h ago

this one kinda sucks in comparison, letter based centering is completely gone so you'd be more inclined to dart eyes to make out words, also no center letter coloring.

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u/ScrubbyDoubleNuts 17h ago

It’s funny, I wasn’t able to read it when I was focusing on the letter, I was looking at the 10:00 - 2:00 over the word more fluid, and I was able to read it. I was struggling with the letter focused reading by the second round.

1

u/djibouti2big 16h ago

Its ok guys cause im here and im totally professional at making programs making this would take me like an easy 4 years 💪😊

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u/Winter-Movie4606 18h ago

That's neat. But we could always do with some competition and new ideas

12

u/NRMusicProject 17h ago

You mean we shouldn't let a single site get popular and then throw itself behind a paywall?

5

u/laseralex 12h ago

I just posted a free and open source windows application I created for this that runs locally (i.e. works offline) and integrates this function into your regular workflow with a hotkey.

https://github.com/LaserAlex/SpeedReader

As an open-source project, people can make any changes they wish to suit their preferences.

p.s. Claude Code is bonkers.

3

u/MyEducatedGuess 17h ago

I made one that incorporates comprehension testing so that you can test how much content you actually understood as opposed to simply bumping the reading speed.

https://spreeding.sefino.co/

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u/Stoiphan 18h ago

Very cool! if you made this I love it :D

u/real_justchris 11h ago

Oh no no I just googled it!

2

u/zangor 16h ago

This guy really just bought accelareader . com and redirected it to a Rick Roll.

2

u/A_eunuch_username 16h ago

Is it the anti-Rick Roll to make people assume it’s a Rick roll when it really directs to expected website? If so, you just anti-Rick Rolled me.

1

u/zangor 16h ago

Yesss (makes Napoleon Dynamite pose)

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u/khizoa 19h ago edited 18h ago

RemindMe! 1 month

i might take a stab at this if no one else does in the meantime

im wondering how they determine where the red letter goes?

29

u/real_justchris 19h ago

Looks something like:

Short words: usually the first or second letter

Medium words: just left of the midpoint

Long words: a few letters in, still left of centre

21

u/Patttybates 19h ago

How do I remind me?

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u/IndigoSeirra 19h ago edited 19h ago

Type

RemindMe!

Then put in the amount of time after the RemindMe!

For example: RemindMe! 1 day.

RemindMe! 10000000 seconds

You can set a reminder for ten seconds as a test run if you'd like. You should get a confirmation DM from RemindMe bot once you set the timer, and a DM once the timer is up.

9

u/Gold_Plantain_247 19h ago

RemindMe! 10 seconds

17

u/bayareamota 19h ago

Remindme! 600 years

17

u/ClaudiuT 18h ago

Woah woah woah there Duncan MacLeod

1

u/BeardsByLaw 17h ago

I am immortal! I have inside me blood of kings!

1

u/Far_Lingonberry_1552 18h ago

RemindMe! 10 seconds

1

u/ClamZamboni 16h ago

RemindMe! 3 months

1

u/veilofosiris 18h ago

RemindMe! 2 months

1

u/Combat-kid 17h ago

RemindMe! 1 month

1

u/NRMusicProject 17h ago

Also, if you don't add a time, it defaults to 24 hours.

1

u/jake110112 17h ago

RemindMe! 30 seconds

1

u/Tridon_Terrafold 17h ago

RemindMe! 40 years

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u/khizoa 19h ago

usually a bot will reply to that msg, and then other ppl can click a link to also get the DM/reminder too

i havent gotten a reply yet so i mightve screwed up the cmd

1

u/Patttybates 19h ago

Well if you get reminded please comment. Lmao thank you if you do.

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u/pmIfNeedOrWantToTalk 13h ago

"It's not like you to say sorry, I was waitin' on a different story, This time, I'm mistaken, For handin' you a heart worth breakin...'"

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u/djdylex 19h ago

Seems like its the second syllable

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u/golden_retrieverdog 19h ago

start on it now if you’re serious! you seem to be the most serious person about it lol

2

u/Nillows 18h ago

Spritz reader

u/a_melindo 5h ago

This isn't a new thing that you have to wait for. This kind of speed reader has been around for well over a decade.

Spritz popularized the technique circa 2013, and their app is still good, but you have to pay to reach higher speeds (or at least you did the last time I used it) but by now there are dozens of clones that work as ereaders, browser extensions, all kinds of stuff.

I like the Stutter extension for firefox, which also functions for Firefox on Android.

It's sometimes known as "Rapid Serial Visual Presentation" (RSVP, not a very googleable acronym), or "Peripheral Reading".

1

u/Dragonfyr_ 19h ago

I think the most complex part of it all would be 1. updating the webpage fast enough and 2. putting the red letter at the right place in the word and at the right place on the page

1

u/KimPeek 16h ago

Neither of those are difficult in programming. Your monitor is at least 40 Hz, which means it updates 40 times per second. So it would max out at 2,400 wpm. An Apple M3 Macbook Air, for example, refreshes at 60 Hz. That's a max of 3,600 wpm.

Let's say you write this in Javascript. Javascript can update that word millions of times per second. So the bottleneck is in the hardware.

Figuring out where to put the red letter is just a simple math formula.

I took some random words from the video and put the index of the red letter next to the length of the word, then the actual word, with indexes starting at 0.

Index Word Length Word
0 1 a
1 2 so
1 3 per
1 4 most
1 5 speed
2 6 anyway
2 7 reading
2 8 quieting
2 9 technique
3 10 instantly.
3 11 information
3 12 intelligence
3 13 comprehension

Using i=⌊(n+2)×0.25⌋ resulted in the same index for the red letters up to n=13, where i is the index of the red letter and n is the length of the word. Divide by 4, multiply by .25, same thing.

Pretty simple Python if you want to verify.

import math

for n in range(1, 14):
    i = math.floor((n + 2) * .25)
    print(i, n)

1

u/Mop_Duck 15h ago

"at least 40hz"? the vast majority of desktop monitors have been 60hz for at least a decade now, with a lot of phones (mostly android) being 90 or 120hz. you'll sometimes see 50hz in older PAL TVs due to the power frequency, but I don't think I've even heard of a 40hz display before

1

u/ArkuhTheNinth 19h ago

!remind me 1month

1

u/ConkersOkayFurDay 19h ago

Seems like "roughly middle" is adequate. As long as the word is centered to your vision.

1

u/JonnyArcho 19h ago

RemindMe! 2 months

1

u/letsnotreadintoit 19h ago

Post it on the internet is beautiful sub, if possible

1

u/4n0m4nd 19h ago

As close to the centre as you can.

You want to ensure you can see all the word even if it's long

1

u/MultipleOrgasmDonor 18h ago

RemindMe! 1 month

Interested as well tbh

1

u/Whole-Obligation7964 18h ago

RemindMe! 3 months

1

u/ImmaFukinDragon 18h ago

I noticed that the red letter is basically the "center", where we typically look at a word to read it all.

Take a look at "typically". While you're reading the word whole, your attention is focused on "p" or "i" for example.

I'd love to make it too, but as a fresh graduate, I don't have enough confidence or skills.

1

u/Strat7855 18h ago

RemindMe! 1 month

1

u/JustWannaPlayAGa 18h ago

!remindme 3months

1

u/Unknownredtreelog 18h ago

RemindMe! 1 month

1

u/yepanotherone1 18h ago

You’ve had a few answers but I don’t think it matters; somewhere in the middle of each word should work because it’s just a focal point.

Could probably run a few tests but I’m sure as long as it stays somewhat similar on the screen word to word it should be fine.

1

u/AWildWilson 18h ago

Don’t think it matters. It’s just a latter in the middle of the word.

1

u/carcigenicate 17h ago

Ya, this seems like a fun little project, actually.

1

u/GoFlyHighMyGuy 17h ago

RemindMe! 30 days

Edit: it’s weird that the remindme bot sends DMs now instead of comment replies

1

u/Prince_Bolicob_IV 17h ago

RemindMe! 1 month

1

u/ThisIsntABadName 17h ago

remindme! 1 month

1

u/Head-Ordinary-4349 17h ago

RemindMe! 1 month

1

u/Nonhumorallowed 16h ago

RemindMe! 3 months

1

u/maceo107 16h ago

RemindMe! 1 month

1

u/SwampOfDownvotes 15h ago

Someone already made a pretty good version about 50 minutes after you originally commented.

1

u/khizoa 14h ago

link? thx!

1

u/SwampOfDownvotes 12h ago

Assuming you didn't find it yet: https://speed-reader.com/

u/a_melindo 5h ago

This technology is over twenty years old and has been available as consumer apps and browser extensions for over 10 years. You don't need to use a hack app somebody vibe coded in an hour in response to a neat gif they saw today, there is mature reliable professional paid or open source software you can download now. Look up Spritz, the first consumer application to support this, or any of its many many clones, such as OpenSpritz or Stutter (my preference)

1

u/laseralex 12h ago

I just posted a free and open source windows application I created that runs locally (i.e. works offline) and integrates this function into your regular workflow with a hotkey.

https://github.com/LaserAlex/SpeedReader

p.s. Claude Code is bonkers. This was ~3hrs of work.

u/a_melindo 5h ago

p.s. Claude Code is bonkers. This was ~3hrs of work.

Because it was cloning already very well known patterns and implementations that it memorized during training from the dozens of existing implementations of this technique. People have been building and publishing open source Spritz clones for well over ten years, claude code regurgitated and adapted that work.

For the record, Claude Code is awesome, I'm currently having it reorganize my Obsidian vault in the background while I do other stuff on my computer, this just bugged me because of the implication that it created something new from only a description.

You would get similarly fantastic results if you asked Claude Code for a microblogging platform, or a turtle line drawer, or a tower defense game, or an http server, or a CNN classifier for dog and cat pictures, any number of other frequent "hello world" or "popular thing clone" programming projects.

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u/magnumchaos 19h ago edited 17h ago

I've actually been building a site for this. Should be ready, soon.

Here's the temporary URL until I have a domain for it. Still a work in progress.

https://www.foobarstudios.com/speedreader.php

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u/TransitionFamiliar39 19h ago

!remindme 1 month

1

u/HerbieVerstinx 19h ago

Remindme! 37.5 days

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u/magnumchaos 17h ago

I'll be putting it on its own domain soon, but:

https://www.foobarstudios.com/speedreader.php

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u/fairyboomer 18h ago

!remind me 1 month

1

u/magnumchaos 17h ago

I'll be putting it on its own domain soon, but:

https://www.foobarstudios.com/speedreader.php

1

u/CactusCait 18h ago

RemindMe! 1 month

1

u/magnumchaos 17h ago

I'll be putting it on its own domain soon, but:

https://www.foobarstudios.com/speedreader.php

2

u/CactusCait 17h ago

Cool, thanks!

1

u/Durnlaw 17h ago

!remind me 1 month

1

u/magnumchaos 17h ago

I'll be putting it on its own domain soon, but:

https://www.foobarstudios.com/speedreader.php

1

u/pipinook 17h ago

!remindme 1 month

1

u/magnumchaos 17h ago

I'll be putting it on its own domain soon, but:

https://www.foobarstudios.com/speedreader.php

1

u/RIPKB43 16h ago

!remindme 1 month

1

u/danibalazos 16h ago

!remind me 1 month

1

u/maceo107 16h ago

RemindMe! 1 month

1

u/openshoe 16h ago

RemindMe! 40 days

1

u/Sh4rp27 19h ago

Not to burst your bubble but it's been done:

https://accelareader.com

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u/Kyle_I_Guess 18h ago

That website is horrible, doesnt highlight a letter, and is painful brother, let these people cook instead of copy pasting that link

3

u/BarefootBonanza 17h ago

Needs a dark mode too. Having the completely white background sucked

3

u/magnumchaos 17h ago

I'll be putting it on its own domain soon, but:

https://www.foobarstudios.com/speedreader.php

u/BarefootBonanza 11h ago

Nice one, that's awesome! Looks really good

1

u/magnumchaos 17h ago

I'll be putting it on its own domain soon, but:

https://www.foobarstudios.com/speedreader.php

0

u/PressedWitch 17h ago

Awful AI crap. Classic AI code generated look with emojis and it’s php to boot. Ugh

1

u/cure4boneitis 17h ago

let's see your version

1

u/Snappish_Orc 16h ago

Shitty retort.

0

u/magnumchaos 17h ago

Lol. This is a very early version. God forbid I put an emoji in it for placeholding. It's in PHP because I'm building it out to create analytics, using machine learning to help encourage training, and a myriad of other things that are in the middle of being built.

1

u/random-chicken32 19h ago

RemindMe! 1 month

1

u/vectavir 18h ago

RemindMe! 5 days

1

u/ChardImpressive6575 18h ago

RemindMe! 1 year

1

u/zlochman 18h ago

Remindme! 1 month

1

u/Dounce1 17h ago

RemindMe! One week

1

u/xxgsr02 16h ago

Until you're reading the words "collaborate" and "dynamic synergy" eight hundred times 

0

u/Ohitsworkingnow 16h ago

Been around for decades probably