Christopher Nazarian
ReaFocus
ReaFocus is a project about digital reading. Screen reading has become a dominant means by which people consume information. Many resources have been put into making this form of reading as accessible as possible, however not as much attention has been given to the ways screen reading falls short from reading physical material. In this project I shed light on this matter and prototype an online reading environment to combat the drawbacks of digital reading.
Artist/Thesis Statement
Digital reading has taken over the vast bulk of learning for students and professionals. Although reading in this form poses environmental, financial, and access benefits, I think educators need to address the challenge posed by reading and learning from screens and digital devices.
Reading and learning from text on a screen is more complicated than just losing your place in a reading more frequently. The real problem is how we engage with devices and screens. The screens that we have grown up with, that we use for communication and entertainment, are now also the main medium from which we are now expected to learn and focus on. It’s time to innovate digital reading so that we can properly learn while benefiting from the cost and access advantages that it offers.
My objective with my project is to develop an understanding of how reading and learning on a screen can be adapted to help people regain focus and comprehension of the content they need to consume. Through exploration of typography and design principles, my aim is to create a conceptual product/software that will help digital readers obtain this goal.
