A joint research program to investigate the benefits of RapidReader® accelerated reading software to help low vision individuals rehabilitate and normalize their reading ability was announced by SoftOlogy IdeaWorks™ and Ensight Low Vision Skills Center.

    * There are 16 million Americans with low vision
    * Vision loss is the third leading cause of disability in the U.S.
    * There are 78 million Baby Boomers in America and every day 10,000 of them turns 50 years old.

The issue of eye disease takes on a new significance as baby boomers get older. It may mean that a newly minted 50 year old is now caring for an aging parent who daily loses more sight to macular degeneration. Or it may mean that, as that boomer ages it is they who are on the path to severely impaired vision. Degenerative eye disease affects millions of people every year and it not only strikes at the sufferer, but its effect is felt across the health care system, families and society as a whole.

Emerging to address this growing problem, Ensight Skills Center is a model for a new kind of quality of life support center. It's a Fort Collins Colorado based non-profit founded to provide low vision clients with training support, rehabilitation and adaptive technology to enhance their life skills.

Founder and Executive Director of Ensight, Denny Bettenhausen said: "Ensight is always seeking out new technologies to help level the playing field for our clients". "One important area is helping them to regain their ability to read. It's in this context that the collaborative effort with SoftOlogy IdeaWorks evolved."

RapidReader accelerated reading software was created by SoftOlogy IdeaWorks for the general population but in recent trials its unique display methodology appears to have significant and immediate benefit for those with low vision.

Developed from more than seven years of research conducted at University of Southern California, Johns Hopkins University, and SoftOlogy IdeaWorks, RapidReader uses a unique patented display that converts onscreen text into an experience much like watching a movie, by placing text on a computer screen one word at a time in a large-font at a speed the reader chooses. Pacing to the text display that mirrors the rhythms of human speech is applied by it's patented "speech mimic" technology. This combination multiplies reading speed and eliminates the need to move the eyes across a page to follow the words. Being able to maintain focus on one location appears to have great advantages for reading for those with low vision.

RapidReader's method of displaying text, according to Ensight's Bettenhausen, integrates closely with the "steady-eye" technique Ensight teaches as a first step in helping clients to maximize the effectiveness of their remaining vision. Requiring them to physically move the book or magazine past their steady-eye focal point to read a line of text, steady-eye helps the reader position reading materials in an area where they have some residual vision. An individual can sit in front of the computer, find their focal point on the screen where the reading material is displayed directly in the focal area With RapidReader. Bettenhausen said: "There is no eye tracking necessary and eliminating the need to re-focus appears to increase both reading efficiency and comprehension".