Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-10-12
READING MACHINE
NEW AID TO BLIND
Development of Device Com
bining Principles of Phono-
graph, TaIkies Under Way.
BY MARTIN CODEL.

Out of radio and its kindred acousti-
cal arts comes now the promise OF a
'reading machine" device which for
hours without interruption will intone
recorded versions of newspaper articles,
magazine stories and even full length
books. The device Is being developed
primarily as an aid to the blind, but its
tremendous possibilities for general in
structional and entertainment purposes
are readily apparent.
In its proposed form, the reading ma
chine is a relatively simple adaptation
of we'll known photograph and talking
film principles, but 1t is expected to be
more simple of construction and more
compact in size than any other talking
machine ever devised.
Hailed By Scientific Observers.
Competent scientific observers hail it
as the possible forerunner of reading
robot" which one day will be perfected
to scan actual newspapers, magazines
and books and read them aloud through
eyes that are photoelectric cells capable
of Transforming printed words into
speech by electrical and mechanical
means.
Development of the reading machine
for the blind is being sponsored by
wealthy patrons. among whom are said
10 DC n. f1LWdU6T fAcIlJ, Tie IdCllO HldUu-
facturer, and Cyrus H. X. Curtis, the
publisher. One of the inventors is Nor
ris S. Frank, managing director of The
Seeing Eye, an institution at Nash
vile, Tenn. devoted to the unique pur-
pose of training dogs as guides for the
blind
Himself blind for many years, Mr..
Frank Is well known throughout the
country for his travels in behalf of his
all rVHFr nj IL de al We o
Companied by his police dog Buddy"
who has been trained to be the "eyes"
of his master and guides him through
traffic and around all manner of OBJ
stacles. Mr.. Franks institution Is sup
ported by benefactions, and his tnven-
ton Is being developed with outside
scientific and financial aid.
Ii Small Amplifying System.
plifying system that speaks out the
recordings from rolled strips of an ex-
ceedingly thin film substance called
cellophane upon which the reading voice
has been imposed. The Aim is like
motion picture reel, except that 1t Is
wider and carries only the sound tracks.
One winding viii carry thousands OF
words.
Wide vistas are seen for its exploita-
JlOu OOLI1 AulOuS U1lc Dk1I1Q anu dLIlOl1B
people generally for, besides being is
sued daily to carry summaries or full
Feports of the days news, it can bring
into the home full lecture courses, COM
plete readings Of articles and stories
fun length plays and books and in fact
any intelligence conveyable by the voice.
The supply of subject matter would be
purchased just as piano player rolls or
monograph records are now purchased.
Nor, strange as it seems, is the
Reading robot" which will read from
actual printed matter, beyond the
realm of possibility. Man has dupli-
Gated or sharpened practically all the
senses by electrical and mechanical
means, for he now has microphone
that can hear, q photoelectric cell that
can see and other devices, primarily
utilizing the electron tube, that veri-
tably can feel, smell and taste.
1t remains only to coordinate these
remarkable devices along lines of the
television scanner, the photograph
recorder and the speech amplifier to
evolve an ctro-mechanIcal man who
can transmute what his eyes see into
speech, Just as mans eyes telegraph"
impressions to his brain and thence to
his tongue.
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