Spoken Word
Text processing is a highly visual task. This application tries to expand the user’s focus to both visual and auditory modalities.
Background
In daily work, our eyes are mostly open - more specifically, they are often open at an unhealthy level: When engaged in screen work, our blink rate lowers and the eyes dry 78.
Concept
Investigating possible implications of the usage of eye closure in visual environments, I was curious if closing the eyes could work as an action causing relief as well as productivity.
It is common practice for writers to re-read the text they’ve just written, and in this example, the user enters this mode when closing his eyes: rehearsal of what he wrote before. As the computer serves as an 'independent reader', possible previously overseen mistakes will not be disregarded while reading out the text.
It was also to be found whether the users would prefer the eye closure over the pre-installed button of the text-to-speech software and if they would perceive the functionality as helpful.
Implementation and user test ´
The prototype was implemented using a commercially available text-to-speech software 92 and Microsoft Word 93.
It is possible to mark the sentence around the cursor position in Microsoft Word by pressing the F8 button three times in succession, so it can be copied (with a stroke of Ctrl+C) to the clipboard. I assigned Ctrl-F9 as the global shortcut for the text-to-speech software to read the contents of the clipboard out loud.
The Java application I wrote to supervise the eyelid status of the users is able to generate keyboard events; and so it performs the keystroke sequence mentioned above as soon as the user closes both eyes for a threshold time.
The users were asked to play around with the eye closure and text-to-speech while editing some text of their choice.
Summary of findings
The application was widely appreciated among the test users, although it was remarked that spelling errors could not be found directly this way. Nevertheless, closing the eyes was rated as 'more convenient' than the toolbar button integrated into the text-to-speech software. It was noted that, when using the button, one would most likely read the text in parallel. Concentration on the sound and relaxation of the eyes were stated to be the strengths of this approach.
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I found that the 'mode' the user enters upon closing the eyes is valuable: Concentrating on the other senses can be beneficial and provide a helpful ‘alternative view' on the written word.
