Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1915-07-27
STATE UNIVERSITY MEN INVENT
MECHANICAL EYE FOR
s,chTLEss.
EXHIBIT MACHINE At
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
Optic phone Shown to Delegates TO Blind
Teachers lnstitute-Joint Product
Of Labors Of Instructors in Physics
Department Of s. U. Ito lneorpor-
ate Company to Manufacture Device.

read ordinary print In DOCK. FIoi.
F. C. Brown, of the department OF
physics, has just returned from Cali
fornia, where ne exhibited the new in
vention before the Blind Teachers In
situte, in session there the first part
/; of July.
The device is called the "opto.
phone and is the joint product of the
labors, of number of men in the phys
les department, who have been con-
Quoting experiments under the direc-
ton of DR.. Brown for the last four
years, and have finally produced
machine that works.
Those Who Made Il Possible.
The group of scientific investigators
who made this invention possible thru
their research work in the properties
of selenium include DR.. l., P. Sieg. Mr.
and Mrs. P. o. Dietrich, L. E. Dodd ana
Dr. Brown. The latter Is the one VINO
applied the discoveries to the inven-
ton of the optophone, and In the last
six months, with the assistance OF MT.
Dodd and NJ, Teeuwen, instrument
maker of the department, he has con-
structed the machine which has
startled the scientific world.
In effect the constituencies OF selen-
ium crystals to light Is the basis OF
the invention. Four Of these crystals
are used between platinum electrodes
in an electric circuic The varying
degrees Of light reflected from the
printed page as the instrument passes
over the letters, control the intensity
of the current which in turn produces
varying sounds, much as the telephone
repeats sound. The shape OF each let
ter, therefore. determines the sound
the instrument produces. In one sense
the optophone will construct new
spoken language, Of which something
may possibly be made In the future.
Up to the present the instrument
has been used only on capital letters
of about the size Of typewriter CAPT.
tails. That 1t will later be applied to
the ordinary printed page there is no
doubt
Dr.. Brown has applied for pat
en-. on the optophone. AS it Is the
only thing Of its kind in the world the
commercial possibilities OF the inven-
ton will be limited in the United
states to the use of about 100. 600 blind
facture will probably be at least 500
large.
To incorporate Company.
DR.. Brown. in company with DR..
Newell Perry, president OF the Society
for the Higher Education of the Blind.
called on Col. John p. Irish. of Oak
land. formerly Of Iowa City, who is
connected With some &C che institutions
for the blind in California, and talked
over the possibilities Of the invention.
Mr. Irish advised the incorporation Of
an Iowa company to manufacture and
market the device.
The San Francisco Bulletin Of July
8 gives the following account Of the
new invention, which was demonstrat-
ed there by DR.. Brown on his west
err trip:
Berkeley, July 3.-A mechanical de-
vice that will take the place of the
human eye!
This is the latest miracle Of science
and this wonderful little instrument
invented by the physics faculty of Iowa
university and just brought to the Uni
versi.y Of California for demonstration,
has opened up vast possibilities for
the higher education OF the blind. The
instrument is called the optophone, and
by the means of 1t blind person
can read from an ordinary printed
page and even see" the outlines Of
! pictures.
This latest marvel Of scientific genius
has been accomplished after four years
| of labor on the part of the highly
trained specialists Of Iowa, including
Prof F. C. Brown, who brought the
instrument out here for demonstrate
before the blind teachers institute.
which closed today.
The "Meehanieal Eye"
| Letters have sounds, and It Is by re-
cording these sounds upon the ear of
/, the blind subject that he can readily
read. The transaction Of light into
sound Is accomplished by means of
highly sensitized little selenium bars or
crystals. With an ordinary telephone
receiver to his ear, the blind person
can pass the mechanical eye" over the
| printed page and each letter will give
forth sound. DR.. Brown esstimate
that any blind person with two good
ears can learn to read in this way in
two months time. Thru the instrument
| the sound waves from the letters emit
certain tones. For instance, "W''
| will sound like "Me-Do- Me-Do- Me" or
an "a" like "Do-Me-Do."
The electric optic was tried out on
over twenty pupils ct the Berkeley In
| stitute For the Deaf and Blind, and but
two failed to distinguish the letters.
Hugh Buckingham, Q graduate Of the
| University Of California and totally
and can readily read any page with the
new optophone. DR.. Newell Perry. In
struc.or in the local blind home and
p,ausdar% ~ <hA Nafioual Sociofv rnr