Sans Forgetica

ALL THE BETTER TO REMEMBER ME BY… WE’VE ALL BEEN there – cramming for an exam and then forgetting practically everything you’ve read when taking the test. However, researchers at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) have developed a brand-new font “using the principles of cognitive psychology” that can help you remember your notes. Called Sans Forgetica, the font has slanting letters that have holes in them. This design, the researchers say, make the words harder to read, tricking your brain into using “deeper cognitive processing” that promote memory retention. This cognitive technique is known as “desirable difficulty” and forces users to look at the words longer. The researchers have created a Chrome plugin, so Sans Forgetica can be installed into your browser. Clicking on the icon will turn it red, and when you select a section of text on any page, it converts the font used to Sans Forgetica. However, the plugin tends to turn off within a few minutes, which can get a tad annoying if there’s a lot of information on the page you’d like to memorise. You can even try it online ( sansforgetica.rmit/).

CALLED SANS FORGETICA, THE FONT HAS SLANTING LETTERS THAT HAVE HOLES IN THEM. THIS DESIGN, THE RESEARCHERS SAY, MAKE THE WORDS HARDER TO READ, TRICKING YOUR BRAIN INTO USING “DEEPER COGNITIVE PROCESSING” THAT PROMOTE MEMORY RETENTION.