Speed Reading 2.0

• Have you ever wanted to read that great new book but just cannot find the time?
• Perhaps you’ve made a New Year’s resolution to read more, only to give it up after a few weeks.
• Or maybe you are like me and have had 3 or 4 news articles that you just can’t seem to get to because of everything else you have going on in your life.

There is a great new solution that readers of all skill levels can use to solve these common challenges. The solution is a new platform called Spritz. Spritz was launched in February of 2014 at the World Mobile Conference in Barcelona and was founded by a team which consists of an entrepreneur, a scientist and a technologist. The platform uses a reading technique the company has dubbed “Optimal Recognition Point” or ORP to zero in on the certain point within each word that helps the reader process it’s meaning the quickest. These words are then presented where the reader is already looking rather than the reader needing to scan across the page. The beauty of this method is that it allows you to read without moving your eyes which enhances the speed at which readers can comprehend the information they are reading. Readers can then set their desired speed anywhere from 100 to 1,000 words per minute. Spritz is now partnering with developers, publishers and even movie studios to disseminate its technology and capture customers throughout the market to adopt its technology. As a unique example, the technology was recently leveraged to promote the Universal’s major motion picture Lucy in 2014.

Check it out at: http://www.lucymovie.com/spritz/

I first found the technology when it was recently installed on the latest version of the Huffington Posts iOS app. Since I began using this I have been able to read three and four times as many articles, and have even found myself finish them! One of the brilliant aspects about the technology is the speed at which it can be adopted, particularly when compared to other speed reading techniques such as skimming. The company boasts that the process can be learned in less than 5 minutes and doesn’t have to be regularly used to continue to provide value.

Since being exposed to the technology with the Huffington Posts app, I have downloaded one of the many different speed reading apps which use the Spritz technology for reading anything from webpages to books that are compatible with document readers like Google Play Books. I am happy to report that I have increased my word count from 250 words per minute to 375 in just a short few weeks using the technology.

Media companies ranging from the Wall Street Journal to Gizmodo have featured the firm’s technology in their articles and reviews which have helped to increase the firms brand awareness. The marketing strategy the firm has leveraged is unique in that it has not developed or promoted any proprietary applications itself but has instead licensed its technology to content brands in an effort to bring more users into the Spritz experience. This promotion strategy recently helped the company raise more than $3.5 million in seed funding, but the company’s co-founder and CEO, Frank Waldman, remains more focused on the firm’s user expansion goals.  He recently stated in an article with TechCrunch that, “At this time, Spritz is focused on building a user community of 1 billion readers. We want everyone to make their apps and webpages ‘Spritzable.” He went on to say, “Our goal is to make Spritz available anywhere that our partners and their users think that it makes sense… Billions of readers around the world could soon be spritzing as way to effortlessly consume information.” Spritz’s promotion tactic of leveraging its licensees existing customer base has helped to draw more users into its experience as well as create a grassroots base of loyal users who promote its technology among their own social networks. While it will likely take more funding to reach its goal of 1 billion users, what is clear is that if the company can continue to capture new customers with its unique promotion strategy, the value of the technology will continue to sell itself.

Have you used ever used a Spritz based product or found another speed reading technique valuable? If so, please comment below. Happy reading!