Reading Rider

Inspiration

We wanted to reimagine the reading experience, particularly for extended passages. We drew inspiration from a speed-reading technology that displays words in sequence, delivering them to your eyes to save energy and time. We took this idea in a different direction to focus on increasing engagement, particularly for children who may be easily distracted.

What it does

An educator first prepares a track using our helpful and intuitive interface, entering the body of text, followed by a short series of multiple choice questions. Then, we arrange the passage into a race track with the words plastered along it. The learner races as fast they can to complete the track without crashing and while retaining as much of the information as possible. The track is the same every time, so students are encouraged to practice to improve their times and retention!

How we built it

We used Pyglet as a lightweight graphical library for demonstration purposes, and built a simple command-line interface for generating race tracks.

Challenges we ran into

We originally wanted to make the game 3-dimensional and more colorful, but we quickly realized that neither of us are artistically inclined, so using the heavyweight openGL graphics library and constructing impressive sprites would require more time than was given for this project.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are proud of our mechanism for automatically turning a passage of text into a winding and engaging race track, while also maintaining the readability of the text.

What we learned

We learned a lot of Pyglet and its internal event loops because this was our first time using the library.

What's next for Reading Rider

• 3D mode 7 graphics (think Super Mario Kart)
• More dynamic driving controls and tracks
• Multiplayer
• Achievements for speed and accuracy, with cosmetic unlocks
• Music
• Online interface for educators to share and submit tracks
• Mobile implementation for students on the go or with limited technological access

Built With

• python