Renato Casutt, a Swiss typographic designer with 25 years of experience is the reading method's founder and owner
Anyone that has wished they could read faster but never thought it possible probably hasn’t tried bionic reading. For many that have tried it, it is a life changer. We find out how it works and how can you access it
Did you ever work or study with someone that seemed to read and comprehend twice as fast as you? It’s frustrating because you think they are just born that way and you aren’t.
My father was one of these people. He would read a novel in a day. I put this ability down to either Dad’s quirky impatience, genius IQ or ability to be hyper-focused.
On retrospection, perhaps these super readers have trained their brains to mimic in some cerebral form the reading method that is now known as “bionic reading.”
What is Bionic Reading?
Bionic Reading® is a reading method and multi-device digital application that revises texts so that just concise parts of words are highlighted. It’s a typographical trick and it works. This method guides the eye over the text and the brain remembers previously learned words. In essence, your brain can read faster than your eyes.
Below is an example.
Why does bionic reading allow you to read faster?
According to the developer of Bionic Reading®, the reading system supports the “reading flow” by guiding the eye through the text by means of typographic highlights.
The site says that with the interplay of “fixation”, “saccade” and “opacity” visual stimuli can be transferred to the text, which decisively will change the typeface.
Renato Casutt, a Swiss typographic designer with 25 years of experience is the reading method’s founder and owner. He says he is motivated to make Bionic Reading®as accessible and usable for as many people as possible and here’s why:
[More than] 15% of the population has great difficulty reading and understanding texts (dyslexia).
We have received feedback from those affected that thanks to Bionic Reading® they immediately understood the content of various texts the first time they read them, which was impossible without Bionic Reading®.
“This is pure motivation and also a responsibility towards society, which we are happy to fulfill.”
A customer reviewer called Jessica, had this to say:
Having ADHD and processing issues means that I read very slow because my brain can’t focus on the words enough to both read them and process what they mean at a decent pace.
She continues, “Using Bionic Reading® has allowed me to feel functional and productive when I’m reading something lengthy – it’s such a GAME CHANGER!”
A high school student called Ethan says he discovered the reading method on the Reeders news app:
“I’m a high school student (18, obviously reads many papers/books) and have been using Mac for 12 years, alongside iPad and iPhone, and productivity and minimalism are what I value the most. I learned about Bionic Reading through the Reeders news app. As soon as I toggled the bionic reading function, I was stunned by how quickly I could read. Jaw-dropping.”
Where can you access Bionic Reading?
You can download the app on the web, iOS app, Android app, and as a Chrome extension. Coming soon are applications for Mac OS app and Windows app.
If you go on the Bionic Reading site you can use the free converter tool for TXT, RTF, RTFD, EPUB, and DOCX files. According to reports, this means you could convert eBooks and use Bionic Reading on your Kindle devices and other eReaders. Simply upload the file to the web converter.
Can you license or commercialise your own products with BR?
The Intellectual Property of Bionic Reading® is based on Patent, Trademark and Copyright Laws. You can have the opportunity to license the Patent, Trademark and Copyright rights of their reading method. This would allow you to develop, distribute and market your own products. Your company then becomes an “Authorized Partner of Bionic Reading AG”.
The Bionic Reading API can be used by developers to make it a text option in apps, according to howtogeek.com. Developers can adjust how many letters are bolded and the contrast with the unhighlighted letters.
Read more: BR for Suppliers. (bionic-reading.com)
You can try BR with Reeder 5, Lire, and Fiery Feeds.
