Evening star., 1933-06-11
TALKING BOOK
SHOWN At CHICAGO
Office of Education Exhibits
Reading Robot at Century
of Progress.
BY MARTIN CoDEL.

N
~ popular edition of the long
wv discussed reading machine"
Y or talking book" Is being
demonstrated by the Office of
Education in its exhibit at the Century
Of Progress Exposition In Chicago It
Is known that certain radio and acous-
tical laboratories have made remarkable
strides toward the perfection of a ma
chine that will actually intone full
length books, magazine and newspaper
articles and musical selections, but the
Federal exhibit is first showing of such
an instrument to the public gaze.
The Office Of Education's talking
book" Is by no means the relatively
simple gadget that some day viii be
marketed on a scale rivaling radios and
home movies. It Is a demonstration
model on far more elaborate scale
ment subsidiaries of the American
Telephone. & Telegraph Co.
Pages Turn Automatically.
1t Is large book bound in red
leather that lies on a reading desk.
Every Is minutes its covers slowly open
automatically and the pages reveal a
series of colored illustrations with little
or no text But with each new page q
recorded voice speaks out a description
Of the illustrations 1t is heard for
two and one-half minutes and then the
page turns once more. The voice is that
of William John Cooper, former COM
missioner of education, and comes from
hidden loud speakers that seem to be
speaking forth directly from the pages.
The application of this idea to edu-
cation and entertainment is manifest,
but reading robots" Of this sort are not
quite the thing the public should expect
for home use.
What the public may have at hand
within the next few years is simple
amplifier, not much larger than the
"cigar-box radios" Of current appeal,
that will intone for hours on end q
story, an article, a speech and perhaps
music. In other words, the gadget will
be much like a miniature electric
phonograph but will not use wax rec
ords that require constant changing.
1t will "unreel" its sound into the am
plifier from spools of film having sound
tracks similar to the films now used for
sound talkies.
See Trend to Laxiness.
The reading robot" idea may not
be welcomed by some sociologists who
may see in 1t simply another modern
appurtenance that conduces to lazi-
ness, even though the United States
Once Of Education points out that its
can be reduced to q minimum. Theorists
have said that radio and the talkies,
being so easy to hear and see, have al
ready had the effect of making people
less inclined to extend any personal
effort to get their education and enter
tainment. They have blamed radio for
being largely responsible for the slack
ened interest Of young people In taking
piano lessons or studying other instru-
ments because music Is now so easy
to get"
But the fact is that the inspiration
for talking books" first came from the
blind, but have long felt q necessity
for something Of this sort. Morris s.
Frank, managing director of THE
Seeing Eye" an institution at Nash
vile. Tenn, devoted to training dogs as
guides for the blind, Is the first person
known to this writer to have sponsored
such an instrument. That 1t would be
real boon to the blind goes without
saying.
Problems not only of trade accepta-
bility in the present depressed market
for radios, monographs and such in
struments, but Of patents and copy
rights. remain to be overcome before
talking books" may be expected to ap-
pear tn the public marts. Certain pub
fishers who have been approached by
spokesmen for the blind have indicated
their willingness to supply the subject
matter. The chief source of copy"
however, Is expected to be f1lm record
ings Of radio speeches and music that
can be produced cheaply and sold or
rented to owners Of the gadgets, for it
Is the interests closely allied with radio
who may be expected to introduce
talking books" when they feel the
proper moment has come.