Does Bionic Reading Work? What Research Says
Once every few years, If you can read this, you’re smart trend resurfaces from the dark drenches of 2007. Basically, text warped in ways that supposedly only intelligent people can decipher (not true by the way). The concept behind it though might be onto something.
What is Bionic Reading?
The brain’s ability to recognize words without directly focusing on them is what bionic reading is based on. This speed reading technique uses an algorithm that guides the eyes to read in a specific pattern.
Bionic texts have the most concise parts of the words stand out, usually by highlighting or bolding.
This technique aims to help people read faster on the premise that your brain fills in the non-bolded parts of the words without necessarily having to read them.
How Bionic Reading Works
First developed by Renato Casutt, it’s based on natural language processing and computational linguistics. It analyzes a written piece and identifies key words and sentences that contain key meanings and concepts.
These key parts are then formatted differently, either by highlighting or bolding. This way, they stand out more in the reader’s peripheral vision.
These concise parts of a word or text are called fixations. By guiding your eye from one fixation to the next, your brain fills in the missing parts of each word.
As a result, your brain picks up more words at once while still focusing on and comprehending the text.
Is bionic Reading Effective?
Whether bionic reading works or not varies based on text type and individual needs. While studies suggest it might not speed up reading much and often overlook people with reading disabilities or ADHD, anecdotal evidence points to benefits like improved focus and comprehension.
If you're curious, giving it a try could be worth it.
Bionic Reading Research: What Studies Say
As mentioned, there’s not a ton of research on the Bionic Reading method. Studies that have been done were not able to find any consistent links between this text format and reading speed.
A study published in Acta Psychologica by Joshua Snell investigated the impact of Bionic Reading on reading speed and comprehension, concluding it’s not working (but calling for further research).
Involving 32 Dutch-speaking students, the study compared reading 100 paragraphs in Bionic Reading format versus a standard format.
The findings showed no significant differences in reading speed or comprehension between the two formats.
In 2023, a Norwegian study aimed to see if bionic reading could enhance reading comprehension for grade school students.
The study involved sixth-grade students, comparing those using bionic reading formatting with a control group.
Contrary to expectations, the results indicated that students using bionic reading did not perform better in reading speed compared to their peers.
The results were consistent with a previous study published on the Readwise blog in 2022.
It involved over 2,000 participants and found that, contrary to expectations, Bionic Reading didn't boost reading speed. On average, users read 2.6 words per minute slower with Bionic Reading compared to regular reading, which clocked in at about 327.9 words per minute.
The study raises questions about the effectiveness of Bionic Reading and sparks the researchers' interest in exploring alternative reading technologies in future experiments.
How To Use Bionic Reading
You can use Bionic Reading by converting digital text including PDFS, TXT files, and even EPUB. There are a few dedicated apps for that.
Here are some good picks:
Bionic Reading (paid) -Can convert text files (even EPUB & other kindle-compatible files) as well as web pages. Works on PCs and Macs, as well as Android and iOS.
Bionify (free) - Can convert web pages into bionic text - works on Chrome & Chromium based browsers like Opera & Edge
Bionic Reading Converter (free) - online PDF & EPUB file converter. Supports files of up to 5MB & lets you pick how much of the text you want highlighted and the type of contrast you prefer (medium vs high).
A really cool (yet unexpected) thing is that you can buy print-format books that use Bionic Reading. I was surprised to find some non fiction and literary classics like Frankenstein.
Just type your book title + bionic reader version in the Amazon search bar to check availability.
I recommend doing this after you try the digital format, for free so you don’t end up spending money on an object that’s not useful for you.
Final Thoughts
So, bionic reading promises faster and smarter reading, but the jury's still out. Some people swear by it, but scientific studies suggest it doesn’t have a big effect.
If you do struggle with reading speed, might as well give it a try. It’s not a complicated task and you can convert any text to bionic text.
Finally, because speed isn’t always everything, check out our post on the SQ3R method for reading comprehension.