Methods, systems, and media for guiding user reading on a screen

• US 9,275,017 B2
• Filed: 05/06/2014
• Issued: 03/01/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 05/06/2013
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: The Speed Reading Group
• Original Assignee: The Speed Reading Group
• Inventors: Tigchelaar, Mark Sybren
• Primary Examiner(s): Hong, Stephen
• Assistant Examiner(s): ROBINSON, MARSHON L
• Application Number:
  US14/270,780
• Publication Number:
  US 20140331125A1
• Time in Patent Office: 665 Days
• Field of Search: 715/201, 715/273, 715/248
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/103 Formatting, i.e. changing of presentation of documents automatic justification G06F40/189; automatic line break hyphenation G06F40/191
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/186 Templates

Abstract

In some embodiments, a method for guiding user reading on a screen is provided, the method comprising: determining a reading speed of a user; receiving a selection of a document having an original layout to be read; setting a reading speed for the document; formatting the selected document for presentation to the user on a screen; presenting the formatted document using the original document layout; dividing text in the formatted document into blocks that include a plurality of words; reformatting the blocks based on the layout of the formatted document and punctuation of the document to include at least one word, such that each reformatted block includes less than a predetermined number of characters and the at least one word of the reformatted block is on a single line in the text of the document; and presenting guidance to the user within the formatted document at the set reading speed.

Claims

1. A method for guiding user reading on a screen, the method comprising:

determining a reading speed of a user using a hardware processor;

receiving a selection of a document having text;

setting a presenting speed for the document based at least in part on the determined reading speed of the user;

determining an amount of characters that a reader can read during a single eye fixation;

determining a plurality of blocks of text in the document that each have no incomplete words, and that each include no more than the determined amount of characters that the reader can read during a single eye fixation;

formatting the text of the document, such that each of the blocks is on a single line in the text of the document; and

presenting guidance to the user within the formatted document, wherein the guidance is moving along the text of the formatted document from one of the blocks to its successive block based on the set presenting speed.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising changing a location of the guidance information within the original document in response to receiving a user input.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the original layout includes at least one of:

paragraphs;

images;

graphics; and

hyperlinks.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein formatting further comprises at least one of:

setting a font of the document to a particular font;

setting a font size of the document to a particular font size;

setting a line spacing of the document to a particular line spacing;

setting a text color of the document to a particular color; and

setting a background color of the document to a particular background color.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising adding user generated content to the document in response to user inputs to add user generated content.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising creating a summary of the text based on the added user generated content.

19. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a complexity of a sentence; and

adjusting the presenting speed based on the determined complexity.

7. A system for guiding user reading on a screen, the system comprising:

a hardware processor that is programmed to;

determine a reading speed of a user;

receive a selection of a document having text;

set a presenting speed for the document based at least in part on the determined reading speed of the user;

determine an amount of characters that a reader can read during a single eye fixation;

determine a plurality of blocks of text in the document that each have no incomplete words, and that each include no more than the determined amount of characters that the reader can read during a single eye fixation;

format the text of the document, such that each of the blocks is on a single line in the text of the document; and

present guidance to the user within the formatted document, wherein the guidance is moving along the text of the formatted document from one of the blocks to its successive block at the set presenting speed.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the hardware processor is further programmed to change a location of the guidance information within the original document in response to receiving a user input.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein the original layout includes at least one of:

paragraphs;

images;

graphics; and

hyperlinks.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the hardware processor is further programmed to do at least one of the following when formatting the selected document:

set a font of the document to a particular font;

set a font size of the document to a particular font size;

set a line spacing of the document to a particular line spacing;

set a text color of the document to a particular color; and

set a background color of the document to a particular background color.

11. The system of claim 7, wherein the hardware processor is further programmed to add user generated content to the document in response to user inputs to add user generated content.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the hardware processor is further programmed to create a summary of the text based on the added user generated content.

20. The system of claim 7, wherein the hardware processor is further programmed to:

determine a complexity of a sentence; and

adjust the presenting speed based on the determined complexity.

13. A non-transitory computer-readable medium containing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform a method for guiding user reading on a screen, the method comprising:

determining a reading speed of a user using a hardware processor;

receiving a selection of a document having an original layout to be read;

setting a presenting speed for the document based at least in part on the determined reading speed of the user;

determining an amount of characters that a reader can read during a single eye fixation;

dividing text in the formatted document into blocks that include a plurality of words;

formatting the text of the document, such that each of the blocks is on a single line in the text of the document; and

presenting guidance to the user within the formatted document, wherein the guidance is moving along the text of the formatted document from one of the blocks to its successive block at the set presenting speed.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the method further comprises changing a location of the guidance information within the original document in response to receiving a user input.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the original layout includes at least one of:

paragraphs;

images;

graphics; and

hyperlinks.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein formatting further comprises at least one of:

setting a font of the document to a particular font;

setting a font size of the document to a particular font size;

setting a line spacing of the document to a particular line spacing;

setting a text color of the document to a particular color; and

setting a background color of the document to a particular background color.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the method further comprises adding user generated content to the document in response to user inputs to add user generated content.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the method further comprises creating a summary of the text based on the added user generated content.