Rapid serial visual presentation in reading: The case of Spritz

• With personal computing devices getting smaller, reading is called into question.
• Rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) seems to be one of the main alternatives.
• We studied the effects of a RSVP app (i.e. Spritz) on comprehension and visual fatigue.
• We found that Spritz impairs literal comprehension and increases visual fatigue.
• Findings might have practical implications for implementing alternative solutions.

In the era of small screens, traditional reading (i.e. left-to-right, top-to-bottom) is called into question and rapid serial visual presentation (RSVP) represents one of the main alternatives. RSVP consists of displaying in sequential order one or more words at a time, thus minimizing saccades and eye blinks. Recently, a RSVP application has received a lot of media attention: it is the case of Spritz. According to Spritz’s developers, the elimination of saccades should reduce visual fatigue and improve comprehension. In this study, we had people read on a computer screen a selected part of a book either with Spritz or in the traditional way. Results seem to contradict these claims. The fact that Spritz suppresses parafoveal processing and regressions (i.e. rereadings of words) negatively affected literal comprehension. Furthermore, the important reduction of eye blinks observed for Spritz might contribute to the increase of visual fatigue.