Welcome to the Reading Lab
The Reading Lab's innovative products focus on expanding the world of reading for everyone. Whether we are providing a faster, more understandable way to skim the huge information stream we all encounter daily,
or inventing solutions that are especially effective for people who find printed text difficult or inaccessible, The Reading Lab's products embrace our common heritage: the rich experience of reading.
Assisted reading We create reading
experiences tailored for children and adults with ADHD,
dyslexia, or other physiological barriers to absorbing
print-based text. We also make Power Readers for people
with arthritis, tendonitis, or RSI (Repetitive Strain
Injury), for whom the simple act of holding a book can be agony.
One of our missions at The Reading Lab is to make reading both possible and pleasurable
for people who have difficulty with print. While we love books and prize the place they hold in our
culture, we realize that for some people, books just don't
work.
Speed reading
The Reading Lab explores innovative reading experiences for the general public as well, such as controlling dynamic (moving) text onscreen in unusual ways. For example, one of our readers allows doubling or tripling of one's reading speed. You can see the Speeder Reader museum exhibit, which combined the compelling interface of a video driving game with the power of moving text,
here.
Multimodal reading
Some of our reading technologies explore the idea of multi-modal reading: books that combine text and sound with touch, or smell with moving graphics. For example, a reading experience can be deepened with the use of background sound to provide a sense of place, and to add affect to the experience of reading a book without interrupting the flow of the story. A good example is the
Listen Reader.
Reading impacts each one of us personally, every day of our lives: driving, learning, working. An inability to read, or even a disinclination to do so, can hamper a child's development well into adulthood. How can reading become even more engaging and immersive?
Copyright The Reading Lab 2005. Last updated March 19, 2005. Comments welcome.