# Optophone

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{{Short description|Device used by the blind}}
thumb|250px|Detail view of the optophone
The '''optophone''' is a device, used by people who are blind, that scans text and generates time-varying chords of tones to identify letters. It is one of the earliest known applications of [sonification](/source/sonification). Dr. [Edmund Fournier d'Albe](/source/Edmund_Edward_Fournier_d'Albe) of Birmingham University invented the optophone in 1913,<ref>{{cite journal|last=d'Albe|first=E. E. F.|title=On a Type-Reading Optophone|journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences|date=1 July 1914|volume=90|issue=619|pages=373–375|doi=10.1098/rspa.1914.0061|bibcode=1914RSPSA..90..373D|doi-access=free}}</ref> which used [selenium](/source/selenium) photosensors to detect black print and convert it into an audible output which could be interpreted by a blind person. The [Glasgow](/source/Glasgow) company, [Barr and Stroud](/source/Barr_and_Stroud), participated in improving the resolution and usability of the instrument.<ref name = "Fournier1920">{{Citation
 |title        = The Type-Reading Optophone
 |first        = E. E. Fournier
 |last         = d'Albe
 |journal      = [Scientific American](/source/Scientific_American)
 |pages        = 109–110
 |date         = October 1920
 |url          = http://statisfactions.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/opto1920.pdf
 |access-date  = 2011-12-01
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20120426010820/http://statisfactions.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/opto1920.pdf
 |archive-date = 2012-04-26
 |url-status   = dead
}}</ref>

Only a few units were built and reading was initially exceedingly slow; a demonstration at the 1918 Exhibition involved Mary Jameson reading at one word per minute.<ref>{{Citation|
  title=The Optophone: Its Beginning and Development|
  author=Jameson, M.|
  journal=Bulletin of Prosthetics Research|
  pages=25–28|
  year=1966|
  url=http://www.rehab.research.va.gov/jour/66/3/1/25.pdf|
  access-date=2011-12-01|
  archive-date=2024-01-30|
  archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240130210632/https://www.rehab.research.va.gov/jour/66/3/1/25.pdf|
  url-status=dead}}</ref> Later models of the Optophone allowed speeds of up to 60 words per minute, though only some subjects are able to achieve this rate.<ref>{{Citation |
title=An audio display for the blind|
  author=Fish, R.M.|
  journal=IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering|
 volume=23|
  issue=2|
  pages=144–154|
  year=1976|
  publisher=IEEE
 |doi=10.1109/tbme.1976.324576|
 pmid=1248840}}</ref>

thumb|250px|Tone generating method of the FM-SLIT reading machine (above), and Frequency-time plot of its output (below).
==See also==
* [Optacon](/source/Optacon)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
* {{Cite EB1922 |last=d'Albe |first=Edmund Edward Fournier |wstitle=Optophone|short=x}}
* Mills, Mara. [https://soundstudiesblog.com/2015/01/05/optophones-and-musical-print/ "Optophones and Musical Print."] Sounding Out! (2015)

Category:Blindness equipment
Category:Auditory displays

{{sound-tech-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Optophone](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optophone) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optophone?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.