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How Spritz would look on the Samsung Galaxy Gear 2 smartwatch. Spritzinc.com

The speed-reading app that wants you to read at 1,000wpm

Spritz has you focusing on one word at a time using “Redicle” technology, a method that uses horizontal lines and hash marks to direct your eyes to the red letter in each word.

WHEN SAMSUNG ANNOUNCED the Galaxy S5 and the Gear 2 on Monday, a feature some may have missed wasn’t to do with fitness or lifestyle, but speed-reading.

What Spritz does is by no means a new idea – there are a lot of speed reading apps and sites out there already – but what it does different is it makes you focus on a particular point in a word.

It uses what the developers call “Redicle,” a method that uses horizontal lines and hash marks to direct your eyes to the red letter in each word. This allows you to focus on the centre of each word meaning you give it your full attention.

The app allows you to read at speeds between 100 – 1,000 words per minute (wpm) So to give an example, here’s how it would look at 250wpm.

image

(GIF: Spritzinc.com)

If that’s a little too slow, you can crank it up a little. Here’s what you would see if you went for 500wpm.

image

(GIF: Spritzinc.com)

The company behind the app was founded in 2012 and the purpose of the app is to read email, articles and other messages on small screens at speed. Since the Gear 2 smartwatch has a tiny screen, it will make messages that much easier to read and understand, but it also has its uses for smartphone screens too.

The app is privately funded and investment was led by Denis O’Brien, the founder and chairman of Digicel.

Read: Samsung sees fitness in its future as it gives Galaxy S5 a heart rate monitor >

Read: WhatsApp, data compression and Snapchat: What we learned from Zuckerberg’s keynote >

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10 Comments
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute C C
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    Feb 27th 2014, 7:46 PM

    That actually works. Wow. I’d be interested in seeing it in action with longer words

    76
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Sinead Murphy
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    Feb 27th 2014, 8:24 PM

    Subliminal messages telling me to vote for Gilmore……must vote for Gilmore…must..vote

    50
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute King Olaf
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    Feb 27th 2014, 10:08 PM

    Must…Crush….Capitalism…Arrgghhh

    15
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Philip Cooper
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    Feb 27th 2014, 7:45 PM

    It told me to buy “catcher in the rye”, is that supposed to happen?

    21
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Zozzy Zozimus
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    Feb 27th 2014, 11:55 PM

    TLDR

    17
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    Mute Dermot O Dwyer
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    Feb 27th 2014, 7:46 PM

    A great APP if you are colour blind..

    17
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Daffy the Bear
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    Feb 28th 2014, 12:37 AM

    There’s always one..

    11
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    Mute Melissa O Shea
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    Feb 27th 2014, 11:33 PM

    Can you use the app to read e books and stuff, or is it just novelty text?

    12
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Jayniemac
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    Feb 27th 2014, 10:18 PM

    Wish I had this in college!! Read the weeks work in the ten minutes before the lecture!

    12
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Tony
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    Feb 27th 2014, 7:58 PM

    WOW

    6
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