Optophone

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File:Optophone in detail.jpg
Detail view of the optophone

The optophone is a device, used by the blind, that scans text and generates time-varying chords of tones to identify letters. It is one of the earliest known applications of sonification. Dr. Edmund Fournier d'Albe of Birmingham University invented the optophone in 1913,[1] which used selenium photosensors to detect black print and convert it into an audible output which could be interpreted by a blind person. Barr and Stroud participated in improving the resolution and usability of the instrument.[2]

Only a few units were built and reading initially exceedingly slow; a demonstration at the 1918 Exhibition involved Mary Jameson reading at one word per minute.[3] Later models of the Optophone allowed speeds of up to 60 words per minute, though only some subjects are able to achieve this rate.[4]

See also

Optacon

References

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External links

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