The Hindu Business Line : Read with speed

BEFORE every History exam, most students have a very simple wish. Why can't the inventor community develop some technology that would enable them to scan and store thick volumes of ancient, medieval and modern annals of history in their brain one day before the exam?

Wise elders tell us that even if such a contraption was developed, there is no way we can assimilate all the information. There are no short cuts on the road to knowledge, we all know.

Enter Mahesh Jagdeo, an Indian Institute of Management - Ahmedabad graduate, who thinks otherwise. He has developed `Target PowerREAD', a software package that promises to double your reading speed in just a couple of weeks.

The software with a Visual Basic platform for the user interface and Microsoft Access at the back end works on a simple premise that when we read, we try to identify every letter and pronounce every word. Instead, if the eye is trained to glance at lines of text and pick up several words at a time, reading speed can be increased.

The idea came from watching television news channels scroll headlines across the bottom of the screen. While some channels run it slow, others run it so fast that the viewer may actually miss the news if he is not concentrating.

"I used to test myself if I could follow the scrolling news. The exercise improved my glancing power and by just picking up a few words, my mind was soon registering entire sentences. That reminded me of my preparations for the IIM entrance test. We had long reading comprehension passages on which we had to answer questions. At that time, reading long passages in a short time meant a fair amount of difficulty," says the 32-year-old Nagpur resident.

The software, for which Jagdeo is seeking a patent, has been picked up by the Ahmedabad-based National Institute of Design as one of the projects being supported by its Design Business Incubator.

"We had initially offered conditional incubation to PowerREAD. But now, we are offering full assistance in developing and marketing the product. Based on our suggestions, several design changes have been made in the product to make it more user-friendly," says Prashant Singh Kutaula, the Chief Operating Officer of NID's National Design Business Incubator.

Jagdeo's company, Target Explorations, is also looking for venture capital funding for PowerREAD. "Marketing and patenting require a fair amount of money," Jagdeo explains. The software has also found its first buyer in ICAD Academy, a Nagpur-based coaching centre for students appearing for competitive examinations.

The software aids self-study and has a databank of over 4,000 stories written by a range of authors that include O. Henry and Guy de Maupassant. For a diligent but untrained reader, the entire databank of stories would take three years to read. However, this time could be cut down by at least two-thirds, if the user practises regularly, Jagdeo says. "It does not get boring because you have ample choice to read what you like. You can even create your own reading material in any language, change the font size and colour to suit personal requirements," he says. The software comes in three versions - Adult, Children and Vernacular. Students preparing for competitive exams like Graduate Record Examination (GRE) or Common Admission Test (CAT) for the IIMs would benefit by practising rapid reading techniques of PowerREAD, he says. Children can enjoy Cinderella, Ali Baba or Harry Potter while practising.

Once the user selects a story, words — first singly and then as groups — would flash on the screen and you are supposed to comprehend them. Different exercises would have the text flowing in all directions and even randomly. Once you really get down to business, things become easier.

After initial training for the eyes, there are reading comprehension tests to gauge what the reader had imbibed. This is when the whole package begins to make sense.

There are tests that have been designed to check the speed and accuracy of reading. An average adult can read 150-200 words per minute. Practising on PowerREAD can easily take it up to 500 words per minute. Jagdeo claims that his reading speed has reached close to 700 words per minute. This article was about 750 words long. So, if you have taken anything more than two minutes to read through, Jagdeo has plans for you.

Picture by Bijoy Ghosh

eworld@thehindu.co.in

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