19 votes

The new font that promises to boost your memory

14 comments

  1. Gaywallet
    Link
    Found another source on this story. The 57 vs 50 percent remembering was on an n of 303. I highly doubt this broke a p-value of .05, but it's impossible to know without knowing how many questions...

    Found another source on this story. The 57 vs 50 percent remembering was on an n of 303. I highly doubt this broke a p-value of .05, but it's impossible to know without knowing how many questions the test was.

    5 votes
  2. [3]
    tesseractcat
    Link
    I wonder if I could integrate this with Anki to improve language learning efficiency. Right now I'm trying to learn Mandarin, so it could be interesting to use this font for the pinyin.

    I wonder if I could integrate this with Anki to improve language learning efficiency. Right now I'm trying to learn Mandarin, so it could be interesting to use this font for the pinyin.

    4 votes
    1. [2]
      super_james
      Link Parent
      What are you running Anki on? A brief google suggests customizing fonts even without admin rights to install them is possible: https://apps.ankiweb.net/docs/manual.html#installing-fonts

      What are you running Anki on? A brief google suggests customizing fonts even without admin rights to install them is possible: https://apps.ankiweb.net/docs/manual.html#installing-fonts

      3 votes
  3. [3]
    Comment deleted by author
    Link
    1. [2]
      sir
      Link Parent
      I remembered the first three but my memory is also awful. Then again I only spent short time looking at them. Maybe it's works better when there's context? I'm dyslexic so was expecting it to be...

      I remembered the first three but my memory is also awful. Then again I only spent short time looking at them. Maybe it's works better when there's context?

      I'm dyslexic so was expecting it to be really hard to read. Strangley I found it supprisingly easy...

      4 votes
  4. nsz
    Link
    I kept seeing Lamp Vool on the second example, it took me a while to see the W. Yeah I'm not really sold on this, I came across a font that supposedly helped dyslexics read, tried it and really...

    I kept seeing Lamp Vool on the second example, it took me a while to see the W.

    Yeah I'm not really sold on this, I came across a font that supposedly helped dyslexics read, tried it and really nothing. If anything made things harder because of the odd shape; it probably didn't help that it was just an ugly font.

    Having a documnt in this font would be like highlighting the whole text. Readong is about understanding and picking out what's important. Something like this just gets in the way of understanding. Though I could see it working for flash cards or other short bits of info you need to remember.

    3 votes
  5. [4]
    martini1992
    Link
    So you tend remember things that you've had to work at... This font would probably be exhausting to try to read when used for any reasonably sized passage of text, slowing your reading speed, also...

    So you tend remember things that you've had to work at...
    This font would probably be exhausting to try to read when used for any reasonably sized passage of text, slowing your reading speed, also helping retention but hampering the ability to get through a text in a time limit.

    2 votes
    1. [3]
      Algernon_Asimov
      Link Parent
      Well, as one of the inventors said in this article, "You would certainly never set an entire novel in it. I like to think of it as blue cheese, it works very well in small portions."

      This font would probably be exhausting to try to read when used for any reasonably sized passage of text,

      Well, as one of the inventors said in this article, "You would certainly never set an entire novel in it. I like to think of it as blue cheese, it works very well in small portions."

      4 votes
      1. frickindeal
        (edited )
        Link Parent
        I downloaded it and used it as a substitute font for a short story I'm working on. At least in my case, my mind only struggled with it briefly, after which it's about as readable as any font. It's...

        I downloaded it and used it as a substitute font for a short story I'm working on. At least in my case, my mind only struggled with it briefly, after which it's about as readable as any font. It's not like they made any characters radically different from their 'standard' forms, so the mind quickly adapts.

        Will someone reading it remember more of it? Possibly, but that 7% demonstrated increase in memory likely isn't worth it for long-form writing.

        6 votes
      2. martini1992
        Link Parent
        Very true, there's some irony in that I skim read and missed that. Though the open source dyslexia font may also be abnormal enough of a font to serve a similar purpose. I think the results from a...

        Very true, there's some irony in that I skim read and missed that. Though the open source dyslexia font may also be abnormal enough of a font to serve a similar purpose. I think the results from a study on a wide range of fonts giving ease of reading, data retention etc, data would be very interesting.

        1 vote
  6. Archimedes
    Link
    I bet it would lose its effect once you adapted to it and you'd have to invent a new font that challenges your brain to slow down and engage more. Then you'd adapt to that one...

    I bet it would lose its effect once you adapted to it and you'd have to invent a new font that challenges your brain to slow down and engage more. Then you'd adapt to that one...

    1 vote
  7. DonQuixote
    Link
    I'd love to use this but can't remember how to install fonts on Windows 10. /s

    I'd love to use this but can't remember how to install fonts on Windows 10. /s

  8. starchturrets
    Link
    This is basically like that Malcolm Gladwell book where researchers got students to pay more attention to questions by using a horrible font.

    This is basically like that Malcolm Gladwell book where researchers got students to pay more attention to questions by using a horrible font.