Wow! There is a new app in town from Tapparatus that could change the way our eyes and ears process video and dramatically change the speed at which we consume information. The new Swift app on Itunes enables you to speed up the playback of your videos without changing the frequency of the voice and/or sound being emitted from the track. In other words, you can watch any video on your Ipad or Iphone at double the speed and actually hear the person's voice as if they were speaking at double the speed rather than at some high pitched dolphin like level of communication. The new technology does two things amazingly well. The first is that you are in charge of adjusting the viewing/listening speed of whatever you are watching. You can slow the video down to a mere .25x and watch and listen as the audio and video are still right in synch and the sound has not lowered in pitch. It sounds perfectly normal just slower. The same is true at higher speeds where the app can jolt up to 2x the actual speed of the track. This is truly amazing and has a whole slew of possibilities for both those who are special needs and have auditory processing issues as well as for individuals who can process the speed of audio at a much faster rate of retention. The second amazing achievement of this app is that it not only integrates the movies, podcasts and songs of your Itunes account, but also offers a slew of applicable links that bring the user to remarkable sites online where one can watch videos from sites like the NY Times, Huffington Post, Khan Academy, as well as a great deal of online audio book sites. Furthermore, any site with a video can be viewed via the in-app web browser that then offers the options to turn up or down the speed of the audio/video while keeping them in synch.
Prior to writing this post, I listened to a Ted video about creating awe at a rate of 1.75x the normal speed of the video. Calgon take me away! This was a truly awesome experience. I can't believe that I will now be able to get through more Ted videos, more great educational tech podcasts, and more audiobooks at a much faster rate, one which I can choose according to my own comfort level and rate of retention.
As a child who always had difficult reading because it took too long, the invention of audio books has been an absolute blessing. Radio and now podcasts have always been a gateway to learning amazingly interesting subjects. Now, to be able to pick of the pace of my knowledge acquisition, I feel that I am mastering that oft sought, but never attained feeling of getting more done than I thought possible in a limited amount of time. First there was watching an hour long television show with Tivo in 40 minutes by cutting out the commercials. Now a video of the same would be cut down to 20 minutes. What's next?
The app also features the ability to download videos for later viewing and has a history sections that saves the videos that you have recently played. You can also bookmark, note and email sections of video to other people
There were a few things about the app that I thought could use some work, however. The home screen's view on the Ipad has the icons in the upper left and upper right and they are very small and sometimes difficult to tap. In addition, the main Speed Control that appears at the center of the Play/Pause button during each video play could be much bigger or have a straight up and down design.
These features can easily be upgraded with a new version of the software, but Swift is definitely a must have app for anyone who is looking to do more in less time. This novel utility will be a wonderful resource to any teacher who wants to put his/her students in the driver's seat in terms of literally, tuning their own dial, of learning. Can't wait to cruise through the Jobs' biography in 12 hours instead of 24!
Prior to writing this post, I listened to a Ted video about creating awe at a rate of 1.75x the normal speed of the video. Calgon take me away! This was a truly awesome experience. I can't believe that I will now be able to get through more Ted videos, more great educational tech podcasts, and more audiobooks at a much faster rate, one which I can choose according to my own comfort level and rate of retention.
As a child who always had difficult reading because it took too long, the invention of audio books has been an absolute blessing. Radio and now podcasts have always been a gateway to learning amazingly interesting subjects. Now, to be able to pick of the pace of my knowledge acquisition, I feel that I am mastering that oft sought, but never attained feeling of getting more done than I thought possible in a limited amount of time. First there was watching an hour long television show with Tivo in 40 minutes by cutting out the commercials. Now a video of the same would be cut down to 20 minutes. What's next?
The app also features the ability to download videos for later viewing and has a history sections that saves the videos that you have recently played. You can also bookmark, note and email sections of video to other people
There were a few things about the app that I thought could use some work, however. The home screen's view on the Ipad has the icons in the upper left and upper right and they are very small and sometimes difficult to tap. In addition, the main Speed Control that appears at the center of the Play/Pause button during each video play could be much bigger or have a straight up and down design.
These features can easily be upgraded with a new version of the software, but Swift is definitely a must have app for anyone who is looking to do more in less time. This novel utility will be a wonderful resource to any teacher who wants to put his/her students in the driver's seat in terms of literally, tuning their own dial, of learning. Can't wait to cruise through the Jobs' biography in 12 hours instead of 24!
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