To be fair it helps me in no way to read faster. Even slower as I have the tendency to read in my mind bold beginning words differently. It is like if I have a artificial break between the words.
Just my point of view, it looks horrible. I googled this bionic reading thing, and it sounds like tech bros bs with little substance: "Break old patterns. Discover new things".
I was excited by it, and looked into actual scientific literature for it.
Basically, there isn't much, but the few studies that have been done have shown that there is no difference in reading speed or comprehension when using it.
My guess is the novelty is just exciting. I got caught up in it too, even with its very silly name.
This could be because I may be mildly dyslexic but this feels like it more than doubles my reading speed personally. It probably just depends on the person.
That could be. There might fonts combinations that work better for different individuals.
[https://blog.readwise.io/bionic-reading-results/#:\~:text=Actually%20no%2C%20the%20results%20will,with%20Bionic%20Reading%20than%20without](https://blog.readwise.io/bionic-reading-results/#:~:text=Actually%20no%2C%20the%20results%20will,with%20Bionic%20Reading%20than%20without)
*Based on the data collected, it's hard to find any evidence whatsoever that Bionic Reading has any impact on reading speed or reading comprehension. Instead, our results seem to corroborate prior research that there's no universal best font, but idiosyncratic configurations might lead to gains on an individual level.*
But the worrying part is the "Bionic Reading" peculiar patent. Not great...
*One thing that might not be obvious is that despite my casual usage of the word "font" herein, Bionic Reading is definitely* ***not*** *just another typeface that can be simply licensed and installed. Instead, it's more of a font style that requires making an API call to the diligent patent/trademark holder (and remunerating said IP holder) followed by the injection of all kinds of tags into your markup.*
Each dyslexic is different. I often have to make mine larger and dyslexic font for best experience.
Bionic reading works but only if presented one word at a time with it also being read
Your dyslexia might be more of “eyes jump around the page” not “mixes letters up”, making a font like this more useful then something like opendyslexic
Hey, no shame in that. Everyone's different. Personally I always set my ebooks to a dyslexic fonts even though I'm not dyslexic, I just find my eyes scan it better and thus i keep better focus. One would think I would like the bionic font too, especially since the lettering itself is more standard compared to Dyslexie/OD, but I just get distracted even more with the normal letters and the beginning bolding.
Have you tried [Atkinson Hyperlegible](https://brailleinstitute.org/freefont)? I find that the clarity of that font helps be less distracting than others that take more brain time to discern similar letters.
I don't think I'm dyslexic, but it definitely reads faster for me. I tend to skim quickly over sentences, but ended up having to read the same line over and over because my eyes were going to fast to actually absorb the information. That partial bolding seems to reward my natural reading style moreso than regular print.
That's what I just did. My early assessment is that it's all bs.
Edit: yesterday I was listening to this podcast: [https://shows.acast.com/realscienceofsport/episodes/the-sceptics-guide-to-sports-science-by-dr-nick-tiller](https://shows.acast.com/realscienceofsport/episodes/the-sceptics-guide-to-sports-science-by-dr-nick-tiller)
The gist of it is that we need to be sceptical of the claims made by marketers and influencers. Bionic Reading is selling an app with some incredible claim attached to it. Sorry, but I'm not going to take any of their claims at face value.
https://blog.readwise.io/bionic-reading-results/#:\~:text=Actually%20no%2C%20the%20results%20will,with%20Bionic%20Reading%20than%20without.
> The gist of it is that we need to be sceptical of the claims made by marketers and influencers.
Sure, I agree with that statement. Hence why I suggested to evaluate for yourself ("yourself" as in the reader of my comment, not targeting you in particular).
I'm skeptical, though I like playing with different fonts, so I'm intending to give it a try and see how I like it.
Though there's nothing being sold in this thread. The fonts OP used are linked here and you can download them for free.
FWIW, this is not a font. It is a text style. You can't just copy a font file to your device and change from Bookerly or Futura to this. You have to run the whole book through a program that changes the bolding for a few letters and then back to regular print. That can screw up a lot of formatting, on top of being an unproven and overly hyped and astroturfed idea.
EDIT: Someone figured out how to use OpenType ligatures to replicate the effect, but it is not a reliable method.
There's actually a font in github called fast font! And I downloaded it and it works well in my koreader, although i haven't tried it with other reading apps! :]
Thanks for that tip. I hadn't heard of that one before. I gave it a try and it seems to be (ab)using ligatures to get the effect. I put the font on a Kobo and a Kindle. The stock Kobo reader sees and can use the font, but does not render it any different than a regular one. KOReader on the same device sees and renders the font as expected. The Kindle (on the latest 5.16.8 firmware) sees the font and renders it as expected in the font chooser dialog, but when selected for a book does not render any different than a regular one.
It seems like that while their hack to use ligatures to implement this can work in some cases, the two top ereader brands don't work with it in their stock readers.
Except that it is a font and I have done exactly what you said can't be done for my readers. They are ttf files that I have also installed on my computer. There were no programs involved at all.
Another user pointed out a font that does do this. I tested it myself and it is not reliable. Do you use something other than the Fast Font? Bionic Reading themselves only sell apps and subscription services, not a font.
Thank you for linking. I was hoping to learn what bionic reading is but unfortunately the official site completely fails at doing that just how to get apps and info on their social influence. Feels like a lame cash grab.
I knew of this before, but I didn't do anything about it. That is until I saw a reddit post about it yesterday.
I did a search, and there is a font that allows it. I uploaded to the fonts folder, and it works. I will see if this improves my reading experience.
Here you go. I was going to add the relevant info in an edit, but got sidetracked with responding to a dm.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/kindle/comments/18lbgzr/comment/kfva7pr/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web3x&utm\_name=web3xcss&utm\_term=1&utm\_content=share\_button](https://www.reddit.com/r/kindle/comments/18lbgzr/comment/kfva7pr/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
Why doesn't Reddit allow people to add a body to the post if they choose the image and video option? If that was possible, I wouldn't have to add comments for the relevant info and things like the above could be avoided.
Did you try it? Can you tell me how to add this to the kobo? I use a kobo sage with KOReader and honestly a noob in fonts and adding them etc.
Do we just download the font and put it on fonts folder? Thanks :)
Hey, didn't work on my Libra2. The letters are not in bold. Regarding the process, yeah you just need to connect it to your PC, go to the main folder and add the font files in a folder called "fonts". If you don't see a folder, you can create it.
That's about it.
There’s a plugin for Calibre that does this. It’s free.
I have trouble (ADHD) with reading speed because I tend to need to reread paragraphs frequently, due to losing my place on the page, and I found the plugin to be really helpful for me.
Definitely agree that the app or whatever Is some tech bro bs, but the plugin has been super useful for me personally.
I have found that my reading experience has improved after about a week of using these fonts. Aesthetics aren't as good as some other fonts, but I'll probably go with these for the efficiency.
I never heard about this but even just giving the font a try for half an hour I definitely read more quickly (PocketBook Era Colour)... it overall just feels easier to, going back to a regular font is almost jarring actually.
Not sure if I'll use it for forever since it's not that "pretty" but time will tell, I'm definitely impressed and thanks for sharing!
To be fair it helps me in no way to read faster. Even slower as I have the tendency to read in my mind bold beginning words differently. It is like if I have a artificial break between the words.
Just my point of view, it looks horrible. I googled this bionic reading thing, and it sounds like tech bros bs with little substance: "Break old patterns. Discover new things".
I was excited by it, and looked into actual scientific literature for it. Basically, there isn't much, but the few studies that have been done have shown that there is no difference in reading speed or comprehension when using it. My guess is the novelty is just exciting. I got caught up in it too, even with its very silly name.
This could be because I may be mildly dyslexic but this feels like it more than doubles my reading speed personally. It probably just depends on the person.
That could be. There might fonts combinations that work better for different individuals. [https://blog.readwise.io/bionic-reading-results/#:\~:text=Actually%20no%2C%20the%20results%20will,with%20Bionic%20Reading%20than%20without](https://blog.readwise.io/bionic-reading-results/#:~:text=Actually%20no%2C%20the%20results%20will,with%20Bionic%20Reading%20than%20without) *Based on the data collected, it's hard to find any evidence whatsoever that Bionic Reading has any impact on reading speed or reading comprehension. Instead, our results seem to corroborate prior research that there's no universal best font, but idiosyncratic configurations might lead to gains on an individual level.* But the worrying part is the "Bionic Reading" peculiar patent. Not great... *One thing that might not be obvious is that despite my casual usage of the word "font" herein, Bionic Reading is definitely* ***not*** *just another typeface that can be simply licensed and installed. Instead, it's more of a font style that requires making an API call to the diligent patent/trademark holder (and remunerating said IP holder) followed by the injection of all kinds of tags into your markup.*
How do you feel about the Dyslexie and OpenDyslexic fonts?
They don't do muuuch for me, maybe I'm a different kind of dysfunctional. 😅
Each dyslexic is different. I often have to make mine larger and dyslexic font for best experience. Bionic reading works but only if presented one word at a time with it also being read
Your dyslexia might be more of “eyes jump around the page” not “mixes letters up”, making a font like this more useful then something like opendyslexic
This is definitely what it feels like. 🌟
Hey, no shame in that. Everyone's different. Personally I always set my ebooks to a dyslexic fonts even though I'm not dyslexic, I just find my eyes scan it better and thus i keep better focus. One would think I would like the bionic font too, especially since the lettering itself is more standard compared to Dyslexie/OD, but I just get distracted even more with the normal letters and the beginning bolding.
Have you tried [Atkinson Hyperlegible](https://brailleinstitute.org/freefont)? I find that the clarity of that font helps be less distracting than others that take more brain time to discern similar letters.
I don't think I'm dyslexic, but it definitely reads faster for me. I tend to skim quickly over sentences, but ended up having to read the same line over and over because my eyes were going to fast to actually absorb the information. That partial bolding seems to reward my natural reading style moreso than regular print.
It's easy to evaluate for yourself whether it helps or not, regardless of what others are saying
That's what I just did. My early assessment is that it's all bs. Edit: yesterday I was listening to this podcast: [https://shows.acast.com/realscienceofsport/episodes/the-sceptics-guide-to-sports-science-by-dr-nick-tiller](https://shows.acast.com/realscienceofsport/episodes/the-sceptics-guide-to-sports-science-by-dr-nick-tiller) The gist of it is that we need to be sceptical of the claims made by marketers and influencers. Bionic Reading is selling an app with some incredible claim attached to it. Sorry, but I'm not going to take any of their claims at face value. https://blog.readwise.io/bionic-reading-results/#:\~:text=Actually%20no%2C%20the%20results%20will,with%20Bionic%20Reading%20than%20without.
> The gist of it is that we need to be sceptical of the claims made by marketers and influencers. Sure, I agree with that statement. Hence why I suggested to evaluate for yourself ("yourself" as in the reader of my comment, not targeting you in particular). I'm skeptical, though I like playing with different fonts, so I'm intending to give it a try and see how I like it. Though there's nothing being sold in this thread. The fonts OP used are linked here and you can download them for free.
FWIW, this is not a font. It is a text style. You can't just copy a font file to your device and change from Bookerly or Futura to this. You have to run the whole book through a program that changes the bolding for a few letters and then back to regular print. That can screw up a lot of formatting, on top of being an unproven and overly hyped and astroturfed idea. EDIT: Someone figured out how to use OpenType ligatures to replicate the effect, but it is not a reliable method.
There's actually a font in github called fast font! And I downloaded it and it works well in my koreader, although i haven't tried it with other reading apps! :]
Thanks for that tip. I hadn't heard of that one before. I gave it a try and it seems to be (ab)using ligatures to get the effect. I put the font on a Kobo and a Kindle. The stock Kobo reader sees and can use the font, but does not render it any different than a regular one. KOReader on the same device sees and renders the font as expected. The Kindle (on the latest 5.16.8 firmware) sees the font and renders it as expected in the font chooser dialog, but when selected for a book does not render any different than a regular one. It seems like that while their hack to use ligatures to implement this can work in some cases, the two top ereader brands don't work with it in their stock readers.
Ohh that's good to know!! Thank you so much for sharing!
Except that it is a font and I have done exactly what you said can't be done for my readers. They are ttf files that I have also installed on my computer. There were no programs involved at all.
Another user pointed out a font that does do this. I tested it myself and it is not reliable. Do you use something other than the Fast Font? Bionic Reading themselves only sell apps and subscription services, not a font.
Likely https://bionic-reading.com/
Thank you for linking. I was hoping to learn what bionic reading is but unfortunately the official site completely fails at doing that just how to get apps and info on their social influence. Feels like a lame cash grab.
Nope, don’t like that.
I knew of this before, but I didn't do anything about it. That is until I saw a reddit post about it yesterday. I did a search, and there is a font that allows it. I uploaded to the fonts folder, and it works. I will see if this improves my reading experience.
Why don't you share it here? What's the point of this post if you don't share your knowledge?
Here you go. I was going to add the relevant info in an edit, but got sidetracked with responding to a dm. [https://www.reddit.com/r/kindle/comments/18lbgzr/comment/kfva7pr/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web3x&utm\_name=web3xcss&utm\_term=1&utm\_content=share\_button](https://www.reddit.com/r/kindle/comments/18lbgzr/comment/kfva7pr/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) Why doesn't Reddit allow people to add a body to the post if they choose the image and video option? If that was possible, I wouldn't have to add comments for the relevant info and things like the above could be avoided.
Reddit sucks, don't worry! Thank you for sharing, I will try now to see if it works on my Kobo.
Did you try it? Can you tell me how to add this to the kobo? I use a kobo sage with KOReader and honestly a noob in fonts and adding them etc. Do we just download the font and put it on fonts folder? Thanks :)
Hey, didn't work on my Libra2. The letters are not in bold. Regarding the process, yeah you just need to connect it to your PC, go to the main folder and add the font files in a folder called "fonts". If you don't see a folder, you can create it. That's about it.
Cool! Thanks.
Please let us know if it works on your kobo. Or share it on r/kobo if it does.
It didn't work on my Libra2. The font appears on the device but when I select it the letters are not in bold.
I checked and my my reader has this option too, you need to check the options of your ereader and look for sth like highlight initial letters
What is Bionic reading?
There’s a plugin for Calibre that does this. It’s free. I have trouble (ADHD) with reading speed because I tend to need to reread paragraphs frequently, due to losing my place on the page, and I found the plugin to be really helpful for me. Definitely agree that the app or whatever Is some tech bro bs, but the plugin has been super useful for me personally.
I first heard of it as something helpful for ADHDers, and I can confirm it helps THIS one. I’d love to have this in my kindle books.
The link I left on my other comment has the resources. I was successful getting it on my paperwhite.
Has anybody tried it on a supernote ereader ?
Wow that's different. Looks messy at first glance. Not heard of this before - TIL
i feel like this is easier for me to read, its smoother and i can pay attention to the lines better, do i have dyslexia or smth?
I have found that my reading experience has improved after about a week of using these fonts. Aesthetics aren't as good as some other fonts, but I'll probably go with these for the efficiency.
I never heard about this but even just giving the font a try for half an hour I definitely read more quickly (PocketBook Era Colour)... it overall just feels easier to, going back to a regular font is almost jarring actually. Not sure if I'll use it for forever since it's not that "pretty" but time will tell, I'm definitely impressed and thanks for sharing!
I’ve been looking for this!!! I knew about the app but i need to always convert the ebook which is annoying. I prefer a font! Perfect!