How CommonGround Works | Adaptive Reader and Portable Memory

A nurse, a parent, a contractor, a student, a veteran, a city planner, and a small business owner may all land on the same page. But they may not need the same explanation, the same examples, the same level of detail, or the same next step.

Instead of asking, "How do we show everyone the same page?" CommonGround asks a better question:

How do we preserve the author's intent while meeting the reader where they are?

The result is not a different truth for each person. It is the same material made more understandable, more relevant, and more usable from where each person is starting.

The problem

Most digital content is built for an "average" reader.

But average readers do not exist. People arrive with different backgrounds, different responsibilities, different vocabulary, different levels of confidence, and different reasons for being there.

Traditional personalization usually begins after a system has collected enough data to make predictions. It watches behavior, tracks clicks, studies purchases, and tries to infer what someone might want next.

CommonGround starts earlier. It begins with engagement: Why are you here? What are you trying to understand? What role are you bringing to this material? What would make this useful to you?

CommonGround is not designed to manipulate attention or predict a sale. It is designed to improve understanding.

Experience matters

The same page can be clear to one person and confusing to another. Notice of a zoning rule may read differently to a homeowner, a developer, a town official, and a neighbor. A healthcare instruction may mean one thing to a clinician and something very different to a family caregiver.

CommonGround helps content recognize those differences. It can adjust examples, define unfamiliar terms, surface relevant details, simplify dense sections, or connect the material to what the reader already knows.

Purpose matters

People do not only read for information. They read because they are trying to do something. They may be trying to decide, compare, apply, learn, file, repair, purchase, prepare, teach, advocate, or explain.

A person who is exploring may need orientation. A person who is deciding may need tradeoffs. A person who is applying may need steps. The page may be the same, but the reader's task changes what matters most.

Privacy matters

The most useful context is often the most sensitive. Age, disability status, family situation, employment background, immigration concern, learning need, veteran status, financial situation, health context, or personal goals may all affect how material should be explained.

CommonGround treats personal context as something the user controls. The adaptive system can use protected signals to improve the reading experience without unnecessarily exposing the underlying facts using a technology called Zero Knowledge Proof (ZKP).

A ZKP lets someone prove a fact without revealing all the information behind it. It is like proving you are old enough to buy alcohol without showing a full driver's license that exposes your address, license number, exact birth date, and other details.

Application matters

CommonGround is not only about easier reading. The goal is better comprehension, better recall, and better use of information after the page is closed.

When content meets people in their own context, they are more likely to understand what matters, remember what they learned, and apply it correctly.

How it works

01

Engagement intake

CommonGround begins by asking what the person is trying to get out of the experience. The reader may identify a goal, a role, a question, a task, or a situation.

02

Persistent context

CommonGround can remember user-controlled context over time, such as work experience, educational background, location, goals, preferences, reading needs, or areas of expertise.

03

Adaptive parsing

CommonGround uses AI and structured parsing to clarify language, reorganize dense material, provide examples, explain technical terms, and create a more useful flow.

04

Protected proof

Some context should inform the experience without being directly revealed. CommonGround can allow sensitive facts or verified attributes to guide adaptation while limiting disclosure.

Chrome Extension

Adaptation can travel with the reader as an overlay.

CommonGround does not require every website to rebuild its pages before adaptive reading can work. The Chrome Extension adds a consent-based overlay on top of the page the reader is already using.

From that overlay, the reader can choose a purpose, role, and level of depth. CommonGround can then extract the readable text, identify key points, clarify terms, surface next steps, and reshape the material around the reader's current task.

The page remains the source of truth. The overlay becomes a personal interpretation layer: portable, user-controlled, and able to support adaptation across websites, documents, and learning materials without turning private context into public profile data.

CommonGround allows websites and digital materials to become more responsive to human context. A public benefits page could explain itself differently to a first-time applicant, a case worker, and a parent helping an adult child. A credential page could make sense to a student, an employer, an advisor, and a regulator. A product manual could adapt for a novice, a technician, or a contractor in the field.

Help people reach a clearer understanding of the same material from different starting points.

CommonGround is built for that space between information and comprehension.

CommonGround helps every reader find personalized meaning in the same material.