{"id":10758,"date":"2017-03-02T19:18:55","date_gmt":"2017-03-02T19:18:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/?p=10758&post_type=story"},"modified":"2020-05-26T17:07:30","modified_gmt":"2020-05-26T17:07:30","slug":"spellbound","status":"publish","type":"story","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/pegasus\/spellbound\/","title":{"rendered":"Speak & Spell Was a Game Changer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Spring 2017 | By Bree Adamson \u201904<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re a parent or child of the \u201980s, you\u2019re likely familiar with the brightly colored Speak & Spell and the metallic, metronomic voice it produced. But when it debuted in 1978, few could have predicted that the hardware inside that plastic icon would forever change the landscape of technology and communication.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had created the first single-chip digital signal processing (DSP) device,\u201d says Gene Frantz \u201971<\/strong>, one of the four original designers of the Speak & Spell from Texas Instruments. The discovery of DSP allowed researchers to study signal processing in real time with no perceived delay between the input and output of a signal. In short, they could convert information from analog to digital \u2014 and back to analog \u2014 almost instantly.<\/p>\n

Frantz and his team\u2019s breakthrough in DSP led to the creation of synthesized speech and contributed to advancements in digital audio, digital cameras, wired and wireless phone technology, and cloud storage. He says, \u201cMany of the products we can no longer live without can be traced back to [DSPs in] early products, and finally back to the Speak & Spell.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Here are a few more facts about the Speak & Spell:<\/span><\/p>\n

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A Real Voice<\/strong>\u201cThe voice of the Speak & Spell [was] a radio disc jockey in Dallas,\u201d says Frantz, who majored in electrical engineering at UCF<\/a>. \u201cWe would record his voice and then [put it] through an algorithm called analysis synthesis.\u201d The result was a voice that didn\u2019t convey much emotion, which turned out to be a benefit, Frantz says. \u201cIt never raised its voice, never got mad, never laughed at the student and never told on him or her.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The Mechanics<\/strong>After being converted to digital and compressed, data was placed on an integrated circuit with 128 kilobits (16 kilobytes) of memory \u2014 state of the art considering 4 kilobits was standard, but a far cry from today\u2019s 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.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Bright and Smart\u00a0<\/strong>While the cherry-red case of the Speak & Spell caught people\u2019s 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\u2019t follow traditional spelling rules. The 250-word list included \u201cecho,\u201d \u201cbeauty,\u201d \u201ccourage\u201d and \u201crhythm\u201d \u2014 Frantz\u2019s personal favorite.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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More Than A Toy<\/strong>The Speak & Spell was the first device to use synthetic speech \u2014 something many other researchers and organizations, including the federal government, were trying to accomplish. When his team cracked the code, Frantz says, \u201cWe had military companies calling us asking about [synthetic speech]. They would say, \u2018We feel kind of funny coming to a toy company to talk about this kind of technology.\u2019 \u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Collaborative Spirit<\/strong>Designed 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. \u201cYou have to live with this collaborative result, not all of which you would have chosen,\u201d Frantz says. \u201cBut by golly, it looks good.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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