Lately, I have been listening to audiobooks. In fact, they aren’t audiobooks per se; rather, I am using a Read Aloud or text-to-speech (TTS) feature in Adobe Acrobat Reader. I have found it quite effective and efficient. It has increased my reading speed manifold and made the process more effective as well. When we read silently, we are mainly using our visual sense. However, reading this way—i.e., listening to audio while reading—cements knowledge because we are using two skills: reading and listening. If you include highlighted text as a visual aid, then you could say we are using three skills simultaneously. When we listen to audiobooks, we rely on our imagination. We hear the words and form images in our minds. But listening while reading doesn’t let your mind wander. This practice gave me an idea for a feature or app. I thought: why not have TTS technology for offline, physical books? You could simply open a camera view, point it at a page, and have it narrate the content. I ponde...
Lately, I have been listening to audiobooks. In fact, they aren’t audiobooks per se; rather, I am using a Read Aloud or text-to-speech (TTS) feature in Adobe Acrobat Reader. I have found it quite effective and efficient. It has increased my reading speed manifold and made the process more effective as well.
When we read silently, we are mainly using our visual sense. However, reading this way—i.e., listening to audio while reading—cements knowledge because we are using two skills: reading and listening. If you include highlighted text as a visual aid, then you could say we are using three skills simultaneously. When we listen to audiobooks, we rely on our imagination. We hear the words and form images in our minds. But listening while reading doesn’t let your mind wander.
This practice gave me an idea for a feature or app. I thought: why not have TTS technology for offline, physical books? You could simply open a camera view, point it at a page, and have it narrate the content. I pondered this idea for a bit and then decided to vibe-code it using Lovable and Google AI Studio. I generated a prompt by writing my idea in Gemini, which gave me a detailed, structured output. I used that prompt in Lovable and Google AI Studio, and both created an app. I was very excited and tested it immediately.
However, I was a bit disappointed because the scanned text was not accurate—it was gibberish. I wondered for a moment what had happened, then realized that the real world is very complex. When we read text from a book, our minds compensate for visual disturbances. For example, if the letter “m” is not printed clearly or is half-printed, we still recognize it as “m.” But software looks at the letter and recognizes it as some kind of character, yet isn’t sure what it is, so it renders something visually similar.
I realized that AI could be used to compensate for this complexity, but I haven’t modified the app yet. You can try it here: https://scan-speak-anywhere.lovable.app.
Then I thought that maybe this is beyond my current vibe-coding skills, and it’s better left to experienced developers. Still, I believe it is a great idea that could facilitate learning in real time. AI could help us achieve this goal and significantly accelerate reading speed. It would be especially useful for people with limited time, allowing them to consume more content efficiently.
There are other benefits as well. It has allowed me to read multiple books simultaneously without blurring their content. Reading multiple books at the same time has also given me new ideas. For example, I started reading a book about raw materials, which mentioned that to obtain an ounce of gold, we must mine tons of rock. Similarly, to extract useful information from books, we must sift through a large amount of content to find valuable insights. In most paragraphs, there is a central idea supported by several sentences. If we can identify that core idea, we can gain a significant amount of knowledge—though we still need to cast our net wide.
I also read/listened to the Gospel of Barnabas. I had it open on my tablet for some time and dedicated a couple of days to it. Although traditional Christianity does not accept the authenticity of this gospel, that does not diminish the fact that early Christianity had many gospels, some of which were declared heretical after the Council of Nicaea in the 4th century. It is an interesting read if you want to explore early Christian history and thought.
In my opinion, biblical scholars accept that there was a source—referred to as “Q”—from which the canonical gospels were derived. I believe the Gospel of Barnabas may have been that source because it is very detailed and contains more content attributed to Jesus than the canonical gospels. It was also reportedly written by Barnabas, a disciple of Christ, whereas the authorship of the canonical gospels is less certain.
The story of how this gospel was found is also interesting. It was reportedly discovered in the Vatican Library by a Christian priest who later converted to Islam. Scholars who deny its authenticity often claim it was a forgery by a Muslim. However, this overlooks the fact that, in Islamic theology, it is generally discouraged to read the scriptures of other faiths because they are believed to have been altered, and only translations are available. Additionally, many historical forgeries raise questions about the authenticity of these scriptures. Although Muslims believe in earlier scriptures such as the Gospel, Torah, and Psalms, it is generally discouraged to study them in depth for the reasons mentioned.
Therefore, it seems unlikely that someone would have forged such an elaborate text. Moreover, a contextual analysis of the work suggests that the author had a deep understanding of biblical history and literature, which would have been difficult for an average Muslim to acquire. Even today, many Muslims are not fully aware of the distinctions between the Bible, Torah, and Gospel; for instance, some might equate the Injil (Gospel) with the Bible as a whole. This makes the idea of a detailed forgery less plausible.
The text also mentions Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) several times. One particularly interesting aspect is that Jesus (peace be upon him) is portrayed as saying he is not the awaited Messiah of the Jews, but that Prophet Muhammad is. Whether one believes in its authenticity or not, it offers a fascinating perspective on Jesus and Christianity.
I also read about the Iranian prophet Zoroaster and the scripture known as the Zend Avesta. It is a very interesting document and represents one of the earliest monotheistic traditions in the world. It contains a story similar to that of Noah in the Bible and the Quran, but the central figure is named Yima. The outline is similar: an impending flood, an ark, the faithful who are saved, and the unfaithful who are drowned.
What do you think about this app or the Gospel of Barnabas, and Zoroaster (peace be upon him)? Let me know in the comments.
Check also: Random, 3 AM Thoughts
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