Milda Kuraitytė
Portugal
m.kuraityte@gmail.com
WG1
Position Paper
1. Potential research contribution
As a researcher in the field of Typography with an interest in digital typography and its inter- action with the reader, I study how typography can improve the reading process. In my re- search I have been focused on typography that moves on the screen, known as Kinetic Typog- raphy. Among the different categories of Kinetic Typography, I focus my research on Fluid Typography and its phases of illegibility as a means to attract the attention of the readers.
In 2016, I conducted experiments in Psycholinguistics Lab at Faculty of Letters, University of Lisbon, using an eye tracker to record the gaze and compare its movement to that of Kinetic Typography stimuli. Using stimuli belonging to Elastic, Scrolling or Fluid Typography and collecting data regarding the saccades and fixations, I found indications that the movement in Fluid Typography leads to a better interaction with the participants. Since then, I have ex- plored the possibility to improve the reading process of children with Attention Deficit Hy- peractive Disorder (ADHD). I suggest that using Fluid Typography can help capture the at- tention of these children leading to a smoother reading process.
B. Action objectives (pages 7-10 in the MoU):
Considering the specific Action objectives, I propose to contribute with empirical data about the digital reading process of Kinetic Typography. These empirical data will directly con- tribute to the objective provide recommendations for optimal text/content design for educa- tional publishing, namely for publication of digital content directed to children. As a re- searcher from the field of Graphic Design, my collaboration with the Psycholinguistics Lab at the University of Lisbon has already explored the synergies between these two fields. My re- search aims to contribute to the objective to prompt systematic, empirical, interdisciplinary research transcending established boundaries between scientific disciplines involved in read- ing research. Though the relationship between the fields of typography and psycholinguistics are evident, a lack of joint research can be exemplified by the fact that eye tracking has not
yet been fully explored in the field of typography and that psycholinguistics has not yet de- veloped extensive research on Kinetic Typography. Being a member of E-Read, contributing to and taking advantage of a common repository of empirical data, will allow us to close this gap.
2. Interest in
A. organizing and/or participating in a short-term scientific mission (STSM).
Optional: pursuing what research questions/projects; where to/with whom; linked to what ob- jective(s) of the Action:
We are interested in active collaborations and the ability to do an STSM. During the STSM we would like to conduct experiments that would advance our research Tracking Kinetic Ty- pography, which aims to analyse the categories of Kinetic Typography, its characteristics and differences in interaction. During the STSM we would like to address the Research Question: Which category of Kinetic Typography should be used to attract the attention of children? Due to the multidisciplinary nature of my research, the ideal place where to conduct this re- search would be a psycholinguists institution, which would complement my graphic design background. The participation in an STSM would contribute to the objective to provide rec- ommendations for optimal text/content design for educational publishing. At the same time it would cover the objective to prompt systematic, empirical, interdisciplinary research tran- scending established boundaries between scientific disciplines involved in reading research.
B. organizing and/or participating in a Training School (please indicate what kind of training [theoretical; methodological; technical]).
Optional: linked to what objective(s) of the Action:
I would like to participate in both methodological and technical Training Schools, so I could better apply psycholinguistic methodologies to the field of typography and therefore con- tribute to the Action objective prompt systematic, empirical, interdisciplinary research tran- scending established boundaries between scientific disciplines involved in reading research.