“You Are My Friend”: Early Androids and Artificial Speech
Scroll through the whole page to download all images before printing.Design for parts of a speaking machine from a 1791 treatise by Wolfgang von Kempelen. The bellows act as lungs feeding air into the voice box, which is fitted with a vibrating reed whose sounds are shaped by opening and closing valves. Not pictured here is a rubber “mouth” attachment, which connects to “o” with a flange that bears holes resembling nostrils — Source.The word “android”, derived from Greek roots meaning “manlike”,...
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