Lumira

How it works

One person reads aloud. Every screen follows along, word by word.

Shared reading without the "which line are we on?" problem — in the same room, or on opposite sides of the world.

The idea

Reading with a child who is struggling has a coordination problem hiding inside it. You need to know which word they are on to help, and they need to know you know. In person you point at the page. Over a video call you cannot, so both of you spend the session guessing.

Lumira solves that directly: the book is on both screens, and as the reader speaks, the current word highlights on every screen at once. Nobody points, nobody guesses, nobody loses their place.

What happens when you read

  1. The reader's device listens as they read aloud.
  2. The words they say are matched against the actual text of the page.
  3. The reading position is confirmed centrally, so every device agrees on the same word — the reader's screen and the listeners' screens cannot drift apart.
  4. The highlight moves. On the reader's own device it moves immediately, so it feels instant rather than laggy.

If the reader pauses, re-reads a line, or skips ahead, the highlight follows. If someone stops reading and starts talking about the story, Lumira notices and switches out of reading mode rather than trying to force the text to keep up.

Voice comes along with it

Sessions include voice, so you do not need a separate video call running alongside. Audio goes directly between participants rather than through a server, which keeps it quick enough to read together naturally.

Getting started, step by step

  1. Create a profile. Just a name — no lengthy onboarding.
  2. Run the reading check-in. A short guided placement so lessons and books start at the right level instead of a guess.
  3. Pick a book. A decodable reader for sounding-out practice, or a classic story for read-aloud and comprehension.
  4. Share the session. Send the link or code to a grandparent, a tutor, or the other parent.
  5. Read. Ten to fifteen minutes is a good session.

What you need. A browser and a microphone. Lumira runs on a laptop, tablet or phone — nothing to install, and everyone in a session can be on a different kind of device.

Beyond reading a book together

Try a session