Patent Application
20130159850
The present invention generally relates to systems and methods for presenting electronic publications, and more particularly to systems and methods for presenting electronic documents for enhanced speed reading.
The Rapid Serial Visual Presentation, RSVP, speed reading method was developed in the early 1970's and has been well studied. Carnegie Mellon found in controlled situations, 720 words per minute, wpm, can he achieved using the method. For short text, a 33% increase in speed can he achieved without loss of comprehension. Wichita State University found an 82% increase in word comprehension. In its basic form, RSVP presents one or multiple words to the reader in rapid succession. This presentation method prevents the reader's eyes from having to move across the page, thus reducing eye stress and decoupling eye movement and rate of word consumption. There are times when a user wants to consume content more rapidly, for example textbooks or research.
The present invention provides several significant improvements to the conventional RSVP systems. In a preferred embodiment, a portion of the display screen on the electronic reader is reserved for the serial presentation of the words in accordance with the RSVP method. The remainder of the screen contains the current text of the content being read, but is shaded, darkened, so as to not distract the reader. In one embodiment of the present invention, the presentation of words is momentarily paused at sentence and chapter transitions. This momentary pause allows the user to maintain perspective as to where she is in an electronic text (e.g., a book) and enhances the reading experience and ultimately enhances the retention of the content.
In a further embodiment of the present invention, the rate at which words are presented is slowed in proportion to the length of the word being presented. If the words are less than a predetermined length, e.g., six characters, the words are presented at a constant predetermined rate (e.g., 200 ms/word). If the length of word is more than six characters, the word is presented for a slightly longer duration to provide the reader sufficient time to process the word. This rate can vary between 25-50% of the standard word rate.
In another embodiment of the present invention, words with an atomic meaning are presented together. For example, the date “Apr. 21, 1994” is presented together, rather than a default approach presenting “April”, “21” then “1994” separately.
For the purposes of illustrating the present invention, there is shown in the drawings a form which is presently preferred, it being understood however, that the invention is not limited to the precise form shown by the drawing in which:
The present invention considers new technologies, user interfaces and features that can be applied to enhance the user experience. Many readers have wanted to read more rapidly since they began reading, but never found a compelling method. The present invention delivers a technology that can help people consume content more quickly using electronic reading devices. This technology has the benefit of helping readers who need to reduce their time spent reading.
The RSVP method has been in isolated use as a Web Reader and in some electronic devices. However, the reading of electronic publications on electronic devices was not a big phenomenon in the early 2000's, but has finally taken off since 2009 due to the popularity of electronic book readers, eReaders, such as the Nook™ from Barnes & Noble™.
Although the basic components of the present invention are significant in and of themselves, an object of the present invention is to create a more compelling experience and ideally a feature that dramatically improves the reading experience.
In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, slower presentation is affected when presenting large words in order to improve the user's comprehension. In a preferred embodiment, the presentation rate is slowed for words larger than six characters. The average English word is 5.4 characters. In the case of larger words, the preferred embodiment slows the wpm rate slightly, by approximately 25-50%. In a further embodiment, the rate could be slowed progressively based on word size. For example, 6 characters or less might have a normal word presentation duration of 200 ms, while encountering words with 8 characters might be slowed to 225 ms, 10 characters to 250 ms, 12 characters to 275 ms, and so on. The timing mentioned herein is exemplary only, and can be increased or decreased as desired.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, several words with atomic meaning are grouped together. For example, under conventional RSVP presentation, a date is broken into separate words presented in succession, e.g., “April” then “21” then “1994”. This method of presentation is visually awkward. To improve a reader's comprehension, the present invention groups these short word and number segments to display one concatenation: “Apr. 21, 1994”. This feature can be extended to other example such as titles (“Dr. Frankenstein”), and small articles (e.g., “I like”, “a peanut”, “my toes”, etc.).
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, transitions are visually marked. Although it is important not to distract the reader when he is reading with RSVP, keeping track of one's progress and location within a book is important to readers. A small visual indicator, e.g. an icon, is displayed to the user, using a smooth fading effect above or below the RSVP area 210 to inform the reader of transitions (sentence, paragraph, chapter, image available, etc.). The duration of display of the indicator is contingent on the type of transition.
For example, a large black or white dot might appear someone near the word presentation area 210 to indicate the end of a sentence. The dot can appear when the final word of the sentence is displayed, then fade quickly, e.g., 0.5 seconds, so the user has a chance to notice the indicator, but have it also disappear as they begin reading into the next sentence. This feature of a smooth fading indicator can also be extended to other transitions. For example, for paragraphs transitions, the a paragraph symbol could be used with other symbols for, chapters, indexes, contents, etc.
The image icon can be displayed that indicates an image can he found on the page the user is reading. For example, the image icon could remain “lit” for as long as the reader is reading on that page. The reader can tap on the image icon to display the image and pause the word playback. Several image icons can be displayed if there are several images on the page the user is reading. The image icons could also he thumbnails of the original images. In another embodiment (e.g., by user option), the images could simply be displayed below the word presentation box 210 since there is so much room available on the display, making the display of an image icon or thumbnail unnecessary. The user can continue the resume the word presentation mode by simply tapping the display or a play button
A significant aspect of the present invention is allowing the reader to maintain context within the electronic publication. Readers find it important to maintain their context while speed-reading. The user knowing where she is in a sentence, paragraph or page while speed reading, is a significant problem with the RSVP technique. The present invention enables a user to maintain context, when using an electronic reader in an RSVP mode. When the user stops or pauses the RSVP mode, the invention displays the standard book text 240 normally (undarkened, as illustrated in
In a further aspect of this feature of the present invention, the current word in word presentation area 210 could be animated to move to the highlighted word in the traditional page display during a toggle between the speed reading mode and regular reading mode. The opposite effect could occur when continuing the speed reading mode, enlarging and moving the text from the traditional page display to the presentation box 210.
In a further embodiment, the system can display the current page, number of pages, chapter number and title above or below the word presentation window 210. This allows the user to maintain context within the electronic publication that she is reading.
As shown in
An advantage of the present invention is that it can extend battery life of the electronic device 200. By turning off a significant number of pixels on the display of device 200 using RSVP mode, normal battery life can be extended, e.g., by at least 30 minutes on present-day devices and battery systems. Darkening the display (other standard text) also helps prevent distraction when speed-reading, but the present invention can retain a display of GUI controls 220, 230 at the bottom of the screen (near hands), far enough away from word presentation view 210. In an alternative embodiment, the present invention also can turn more pixels off (black) by removing the white RSVP area 210 and turning the text white to provide the required contrast between the presented words and the darkened background.
In a further aspect of the invention, the system and method determines and displays to the user a predicted time of book completion. Since the system knows the rate at which the user is reading and the number of words remaining in the book, the system can provide an accurate time-to-completion prediction, assuming the user doesn't pause the presentation. For example, the system an display a message such as “We estimate finishing the book in 3 hrs 20 mins or at 7:18 pm.” If a user's goal is to read a book as quickly as possible, a prediction can give the user more incentive to gradually increase speed-reading rates. This feature provides a game-like quality that can ideally benefit the user, i.e., more content consumed more efficiently.
As described above,
Element 430 is a page scrubber that allows the user to slide the button to move to other positions in the electronic publication. The user can also swipe left and right on the darkened/black page 240 to move forward or back a page, and the RSVP presentation of the present invention begins with the first sentence on that new page. When the user makes such a swipe, a transition indicator appears as they normally would to let the user know they have moved forward or backward a sentence, and as confirmation of their swipe. Also, at the user's preference option, this and other transitions can be accompanied by a sound element. Element 440 provides the user with the title of the current section (e.g., chapter) of the electronic publication and the number of pages remaining in the chapter.
Device 200 can include any suitable type of electronic device. For example, electronic device 200 can include a portable electronic device that the user may hold in his or her hand, such as a digital media player, a personal e-mail device, a personal data assistant (“PDA”), a cellular telephone, a handheld gaming device, a tablet device or an eBook reader. As another example, device 200 can include a larger portable electronic device, such as a laptop computer. The invention can also operate on a desktop computer, and can be run through a web application.
Control circuitry 500 can include any processing circuitry or processor operative to control the operations and performance of e device 200. For example, control circuitry 500 can be used to run operating system applications, firmware applications, media playback applications, media editing applications, or any other application. Control circuitry 500 can drive the display 550 and process inputs received from a user interface, e.g., the display 550 if it is a touch screen.
Speed Reading Module 505 includes the hardware and software required to perform the speeding reading operations described herein.
Storage 510 can include, for example, one or more computer readable storage mediums including a hard-drive, solid state drive, flash memory, permanent memory such as ROM, magnetic, optical, semiconductor, paper, or any other suitable type of storage component, or any combination thereof. Storage 510 can store, for example, media content, e.g., eBooks, music and video files, application data, e.g., software for implementing functions on electronic device 200, firmware, user preference information data, e.g., content preferences, authentication information, libraries of data associated with authorized users, transaction information data, e.g., information such as credit card information, wireless connection information data, e.g., information that can enable electronic device 200 to establish a wireless connection, subscription information data, e.g., information that keeps track of podcasts or television shows or other media a user subscribes to, contact information data, e.g., telephone numbers and email addresses, calendar information data, and any other suitable data or any combination thereof. The instructions for implementing the functions of the present invention may, as non-limiting examples, comprise software and/or scripts stored in the computer-readable media 510
Memory 520 can include cache memory, semi-permanent memory such as RAM, and/or one or more different types of memory used for temporarily storing data. In some embodiments, memory 520 can also be used for storing data used to operate electronic device applications, or any other type of data that can be stored in storage 510. In some embodiments, memory 520 and storage 510 can be combined as a single storage medium.
I/O circuitry 530 can be operative to convert, and encode/decode, if necessary analog signals and other signals into digital data. In some embodiments. I/O circuitry 530 can also convert digital data into any other type of signal, and vice-versa. For example, I/O circuitry 530 can receive and convert physical contact inputs, e.g., from a multi-touch screen, i.e., display 550, physical movements, e.g., from a mouse or sensor, analog audio signals, e.g., from a microphone, or any other input. The digital data can be provided to and received from control circuitry 500, storage 510, and memory 520, or any other component of electronic device 200. Although I/O circuitry 530 is illustrated in this Figure as a single component of electronic device 200, several instances of I/O circuitry 530 can be included in electronic device 200.
Device 200 can include any suitable interface or component for allowing a user to provide inputs to I/O circuitry 530. For example, device 200 can include any suitable input mechanism, such as a button, keypad, dial, a click wheel, or a touch screen, e.g., display 550. In some embodiments, electronic device 200 can include a capacitive sensing mechanism, or a multi-touch capacitive sensing mechanism.
In some embodiments, electronic device 200 can include specialized output circuitry associated with output devices such as, for example, one or more audio outputs. The audio output can include one or more speakers, e.g., mono or stereo speakers, built into device 200, or an audio component that is remotely coupled to electronic device 200, e.g., a headset, headphones or earbuds that can be coupled to device 200 with a wire or wirelessly.
Display 550 includes the display and display circuitry for providing a display visible to the user. For example, the display circuitry can include a screen, e.g., an LCD screen that is incorporated in device 200, In some embodiments, the display circuitry can include a coder/decoder (Codec) to convert digital media data into analog signals. For example, the display circuitry or other appropriate circuitry within electronic device can include video Codecs, audio Codecs, or any other suitable type of Codec.
The display circuitry also can include display driver circuitry, circuitry for driving display drivers, or both. The display circuitry can be operative to display content, e.g., media playback information, application screens for applications implemented on the electronic device 200, information regarding ongoing communications operations, information regarding incoming communications requests, or device operation screens, under the direction of control circuitry 500. Alternatively, the display circuitry can be operative to provide instructions to a remote display.
Communications circuitry 540 can include any suitable communications circuitry operative to connect to a communications network and to transmit communications, e.g., data from the electronic device 200 to other devices within the communications network. Communications circuitry 540 can be operative to interface with the communications network using any suitable communications protocol such as, for example, Wi-Fi, e.g., a 802.11 protocol, Bluetooth, radio frequency systems, e.g., 900 MHz, 1.4 GHz, and 5.6 GHz communication systems, infrared, GSM, GSM plus EDGE, CDMA, quadband, and other cellular protocols, VOIP, or any other suitable protocol.
Electronic device 200 can include one more instances of communications circuitry 540 for simultaneously performing several communications operations using different communications networks, although only one is shown in this Figure to avoid overcomplicating the drawing. For example, electronic device 200 can include a first instance of communications circuitry 540 for communicating over a cellular network, and a second instance of communications circuitry 540 for communicating over or using Bluetooth. In some embodiments, the same instance of communications circuitry 540 can be operative to provide for communications over several communications networks.
In some embodiments, device 200, can be coupled to a host device such as a cloud for data transfers, synching the communications device, software or firmware updates, providing performance information to a remote source, e.g., providing riding characteristics to a remote server, or performing any other suitable operation that can require electronic device 200 to be coupled to a host device. Several electronic devices 200 can be coupled to a single host device using the host device as a server. Alternatively or additionally, electronic device 200 can be coupled to several host devices, e.g., for each of the plurality of the host devices to serve as a backup for data stored in device 200.
Although the present invention has been described in relation to particular embodiments thereof, many other variations and other uses will be apparent to those skilled in the art. It is preferred, therefore, that the present invention be limited not by the specific disclosure herein, but only by the gist and scope of the disclosure.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61577610 | Dec 2011 | US |
