Fovea
Speed reading built for ADHD brains, not just fast ones
Named after the fovea centralis, the retina's center of sharp vision. Exactly where the reader keeps your gaze.
An RSVP speed reader built for ADHD brains, designed around how ADHD reading actually fails.
Context
A personal problem willpower kept failing to solve. Built after finding a 2023 peer-reviewed study on RSVP and ADHD comprehension.
The Problem
Most people with ADHD don't have a reading speed problem. They have a staying-on-the-page problem.
Mind wanders mid-sentence, even on content they care about.
Same paragraph four times, then the book closes.
Speed reading apps target people who already read fine.
Nobody builds for staying on the page at all.
Phase 1 shipped. Phase 2 in development.
Product Approach
Comprehension problem → Eye movement problem. RSVP removes saccades entirely.
Every feature maps to a specific ADHD failure mode. No AI summaries in Phase 1: That would defeat the point of reading.
Research Basis
+13%
ADHD reading comprehension, RSVP vs standard text
Peer-reviewed · PubMed 2023 · No gain for neurotypical readers
Share of reading time · ORP eye-movement research · RSVP collapses the 80% to zero
Body doubling Phase 2
Documented ADHD technique: Silent presence of others improves focus.
Why RSVP
The research that shaped every product decision.
Every saccade, the eye's jump between words, is a chance for attention to drift. RSVP flashes words at one fixed point: Zero saccades.
Key Finding · Peer-Reviewed · PubMed 2023
Neurotypical readers: No gain · Study data, not Fovea usage data
What the research changed in the product
ORP letter in coral red at a fixed position. Eyes never move.
Start at 80% of baseline WPM, ramping over 30 seconds.
Nothing on screen to context-switch to mid-session.
Pause and rewind assume zoning out. Never punish it.
The Reading Engine
ORP + Smart Pacing
Gaze stays fixed on the ORP letter. Display time follows word length and punctuation.
Fovea · Reader spec · Phase 1
Reading Modes
Three modes for three kinds of brains. TTS highlights the spoken word live, no external service.
Fovea · Reader spec · Phase 1
Content Import
Parsed client-side, stripped of headers, ads, and front matter before the reader touches it.
Fovea · Import pipeline · Phase 1
ADHD Features
Each one addresses a specific ADHD failure mode, not a generic UX pattern.
Recover Button
Zone out, close the app → press R, rewind 10 seconds, keep reading
Hyperfocus Mode
Notifications win → full screen, no UI, optional Do Not Disturb
Streak Freezes
"Already broke it, forget it" → earned freeze tokens auto-protect missed days
1 token per week readPomodoro + Smart Length
Open-ended reading → 25-minute sessions, 5-minute breaks, suggested length at typical bail time plus 10%
Stop asking what features to add. Start asking which failure modes to design around.
Recover, Streak Freezes, Hyperfocus: None came from a feature list. All came from asking why ADHD users quit.
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