RSVP BuddyBuzz
In late 2004, BJ Fogg from Stanford University’s Persuasive Technology Lab introduced application to improve reading experience in mobile phone, called BuddyBuzz. The technology is based on RSVP - rapid serial visual presentation - that flashes words on a screen one at a time. Using this method, user can “buzz” through the digital text at 700 words per minute (the average reading speed is 250 - 300 wpm). Rarely explored but might yield huge commercial potential is on its screen optimization benefits. I plan to post more in detail about this next week 
Remind me if I didn’t. Meanwhile, you might want to visit Trevor Smith’s site, who created a speed reading application based on RSVP for Cory Doctorow’s “Eastern Standard Tribe” novel. Let me know if it works for you.
July 19th, 2005 at 10:32 pm
Tested it just now, and found it a useful tool to train people who wants to do the more conventional speedreading. It helps get people used to focusing their eyes at one point rather than constantly jumping all over the page. The speed at which the words fly off also forces the reader to not vocalise the words (mentally or otherwise) while reading.
But it lacks the total-picture cue that one gets from reading a structured text, because all paragraphing/chaptering are gone. All hierarchical information eg. points, (sub- sub- …)points will be lost. Also it eliminates the opportunity to scan from the corner of the eyes, a useful conventional speedreading technique.
It’ll work for non-document texts (e.g. SMSes), but other than that it doesn’t maximise the speed potential as much as normal speedreading. Still a neat concept though.