Ashton Kutcher Just Helped Create A Speed Reading App That’ll Change Your Life
Read 1000 words-per-minute, like some sorta magnificent genius.
Ever been halfway through a great book and wished you could get through it quicker just to see how it ends? Or spent hours sifting through all those emails in your inbox in the morning? Well, with the launch of Spritz — a new speed-reading app funded by none other than Ashton Kutcher (aka, ‘Pretend Jobs‘) — the hardships of the slow reader could be solved forever.
The app allows you to read up to 1000 words per minute, which is “more than three times as much as the average adult reading speed”. If the technology develops, one day you could be reading Harry Potter in just a few hours. And you finally might get around to reading Tolstoy’s mammoth War and Peace: Spritz could make it possible to read the 1225-page opus in less than a day. Thanks Ashton!
An app that will help you read 1,000 words per minute?? http://t.co/OIU2fgUOVapic.twitter.com/8QoSPEt9yE
— ashton kutcher (@aplusk) March 10, 2014
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Who can use it?
According to the app’s website, everyone. Oh, except “sleeping people, zombies, cartoon characters, scuba divers, people without heartbeats (i.e. dead people)”, which seems a little unfair, because everyone needs to read faster, especially zombies.
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How does it work?
The app lets you to set your reading speed, ranging from 250 to 1000 wpm. Reading traditional text, your eye looks for what Spritz calls the “Optimal Recognition Point” or OPR. Spritz’s technology locates this OPR for you, with the key letter being displayed in red while the other letters are black. According to the company, this cuts out 80% of the time you traditionally spend “physically moving your eyes from word to word and scanning for the next ORP.”
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But will I even remember the whole book?
Spritz says “of course”, with retention levels being about the same as traditional reading. Co founder and CEO Frank Waldman said, “Our technology can be used to read emails, text messages, social media streams, maps or web content and can be integrated onto any mobile device — the options are almost limitless.”
But the jury is still out on the user friendliness of the app, with users of the demo reporting some mixed experiences.
This Insane New App Will Allow You To Read Novels In Under 90 Minutes | Elite Daily http://t.co/ukKyeZZ8QF fcking amazing. #want #startup
— Elaine Lai (@Elaine_J_Lai) March 10, 2014
Just got round to trying that Spritz demo. It’s like having words injected into your eye. Which might be useful sometimes I suppose.
— Steve Curati (@stevecurati) March 10, 2014
While Spritz has been developed in “stealth mode” for three years, the “preinstalled email app” will be available in April. Be prepared for life in the fast lane.