The Groundbreaking Technology Of TI's Speak & Spell

Here are a few more facts about the Speak & Spell:

A Real Voice“The voice of the Speak & Spell [was] a radio disc jockey in Dallas,” says Frantz, who majored in electrical engineering at UCF. “We would record his voice and then [put it] through an algorithm called analysis synthesis.” The result was a voice that didn’t convey much emotion, which turned out to be a benefit, Frantz says. “It never raised its voice, never got mad, never laughed at the student and never told on him or her.” The MechanicsAfter being converted to digital and compressed, data was placed on an integrated circuit with 128 kilobits (16 kilobytes) of memory — state of the art considering 4 kilobits was standard, but a far cry from today’s gigabyte lifestyle. Whenever the Speak & Spell chose a new word, the information was pulled from the memory and sent to the synthesizer, which recreated the sounds for the user. Bright and Smart While the cherry-red case of the Speak & Spell caught people’s eye, it was the interactive educational experience that captivated their attention. Using the rote method of learning, the toy taught users to spell words that didn’t follow traditional spelling rules. The 250-word list included “echo,” “beauty,” “courage” and “rhythm” — Frantz’s personal favorite. More Than A ToyThe Speak & Spell was the first device to use synthetic speech — something many other researchers and organizations, including the federal government, were trying to accomplish. When his team cracked the code, Frantz says, “We had military companies calling us asking about [synthetic speech]. They would say, ‘We feel kind of funny coming to a toy company to talk about this kind of technology.’ ” Collaborative SpiritDesigned to resemble a book, the Speak & Spell featured a handle and was powered by batteries, not a wall adapter, so kids could carry it around easily and safely. What began with four engineers evolved into a team of hundreds, including a significant design staff. “You have to live with this collaborative result, not all of which you would have chosen,” Frantz says. “But by golly, it looks good.”