Bringing knowledge to your time.

April Dream: Adding audio to every book. Toward a world where knowledge that leads to 'deeper understanding' becomes the norm.

🔳 Redesigning access to knowledge by adding 'voice' to the 'text' in books.

We support 'April Dream,' an initiative that encourages sharing dreams on April 1st. This press release represents the dream of Smartbooks Inc. (CEO: Eri Aiuchi).

We are sharing the future we wish to realize.

The challenge: It’s not that people 'cannot read,' it’s that they 'have stopped reading.'

It is said that in Japan, about half of the population does not read a single book in a month.

However, this is not because the number of people who cannot read has increased.

It is because the number of people who can read, but have stopped doing so, has increased.

🔳 Is that time just slipping away?

Smartbooks: A reading experience where you can listen while simultaneously understanding diagrams and the text.

You have the time. It’s just that how you use it has changed.

Commuting, traveling, doing housework.

We already spend a lot of time on these activities.

However, that time is often not 'time spent engaging with knowledge,' but has been replaced by other information such as social media or videos.

If that time could be transformed into time for understanding, thinking, and taking action,

reading would surely return to our daily lives.

A reading experience where you can listen while simultaneously understanding diagrams and the text. That is Smartbooks.

Through 'multitasking,' knowledge returns to daily life.

By combining audio and text, Smartbooks provides a new reading experience that allows you to 'listen while reading when necessary.'

By integrating 'reading' and 'listening,' which have been separated until now,

reading changes from something that requires 'setting aside specific time' to 'something you naturally encounter in your daily life.'

Knowledge accumulates in daily life.

For example,

Encountering a new perspective during your morning commute.

Learning the background of a field you are about to get involved in while on the move.

Engaging with books you couldn't find time to read before while doing chores.

Such small accumulations,

before you know it, turn into a significant difference.

Knowledge changes from something obtained during special time to something that accumulates within your daily life.

Another challenge: Much of our knowledge is not yet delivered in a form that 'deepens understanding.'

Many books exist.

However, it cannot necessarily be said that this knowledge is being delivered in a way that is seamless, continuously accessible, and conducive to deepening understanding.

In other words, much of our knowledge may not yet be in a 'ready-to-use state.'

The Smartbooks approach

Smartbooks' AI narrator does not simply read text aloud; it focuses on designing 'ease of understanding' itself.

Based on user feedback, we continuously improve misreadings and intonation to realize a more natural audio experience that leads to deeper understanding.

Changes have already begun

Many books are already being delivered in a 'listenable format.'

Smartbooks currently offers: - Over 500 books - Partnerships with dozens of publishers - Thousands of hours of audio content

An environment where you can continuously engage with knowledge in your daily life is already beginning to take shape.

Comment from the CEO of Smartbooks

I personally love books, but it was difficult for me to set aside dedicated time for reading, and I couldn't keep up with reading consistently.

However, by combining audio and text, I became able to naturally engage with books in my daily life, deepen my understanding, and gain an experience where knowledge directly leads to action.

I feel that it wasn't that I couldn't read, but rather that 'the distance between me and reading had just grown a little too far.'

Our dream

We aim for a world where we add audio to every book, and knowledge that leads to 'deeper understanding' becomes the norm.

It is not something for only a select few,

but a world where everyone can engage with knowledge, understand it, and take action in their daily lives.

Toward the future

In the future, we are looking into expanding Japanese knowledge into multiple languages and delivering it to the world through 'audio and text.'

In closing

This is still a dream.

But it is also a future that has already begun.

Let’s end the era of 'being able to read, but not reading.'

Audio for every book. Toward a world where knowledge that leads to deeper understanding becomes the norm.

Take that first step with your own time.

What is Smartbooks?

Smartbooks provides a reading experience that combines audio and text, allowing you to 'listen while reading when necessary.'

With audio, text, and diagrams working in tandem, we lead you to reading that helps you understand, think, and take action.

Bringing knowledge to your time.

Knowledge transcends borders.

Media inquiries and contact

We welcome inquiries and consultations from media, companies, and publishers regarding Smartbooks' initiatives.

contact[@]smartbooks.jp

🔳 Experience it now

Visit Smartbooks here: https://smartbooks.jp

Start with one book.

Bringing knowledge to your time.

And, toward the realization of our dream.