Talk & amp; The spelling is a series of children's electronic hand-held computers by Texas Instruments consisting of TMC0280 linear predictive coding speech synthesizers, keyboards, and receptor slots to receive one of the ROM game library module collections (collectively covered by a patent US 3934233 Ã, ). Speak & amp; Mantra was introduced at the June Consumer Electronics Show in June 1978, making it one of the earliest handheld electronic devices with a visual display to use replaceable game cartridges.
The Speak & amp; A mantra named Milestone IEEE in 2009.
Video Speak & Spell (toy)
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The Speak & amp; Mantra was created by a small team of engineers led by Paul Breedlove, himself an engineer, with Texas Instruments (TI) during the late 1970s. Construction began in 1976 with an initial budget of $ 25,000, as a result of IT research into speech synthesis. The full proof version of the first console uses Solid State Speech technology with an IT trademark to store full words in a solid state format similar to the way the calculator calculates the time. Additional purchased cartridges (called expansion modules) can be inserted through the battery compartment to provide new solid status libraries and new games. This is the first time an educational toy has used an unrecorded speech on a tape or a record (as in Mattel's See 'n Say line or Chatty Cathy's previous puppet).
Maps Speak & Spell (toy)
Talk & amp; Spell console
Speech & amp; Original Spell
Speech & amp; Mantra's original is the first of a three-part educational toy series that also includes Speak & amp; Read and Speak & amp; Mathematics. This series is part of the IT Learning Center and Speak & amp; Mantra was released along with Spelling B (a non-greeting product designed to help children learn to spell), and First Watch (designed to teach children reading digital and analog watches). The Speak & amp; Mantras are sold, with regional variations, in the United States, Canada, Australia, in Europe, and Japan.
The toy was originally advertised as a tool to help children 7 years and over to learn to spell and say over 200 words that are often spelled wrong. These are sent without cartridges, in this configuration called only Basic Units (containing minigames, Mystery , Secret Code , and Mail ).
Later Talk & amp; Mantra model
Between release and 1983, Speak & amp; The spell is redesigned twice with the name Speak & amp; Spell. It was completely recreated in 1982 as Speak & amp; Short Spell (a version that has no visual appearance), and in 1989 Super Speak & amp; Mantra was released to replace the original fluorescent vacuum display (VFD) with liquid crystal display (LCD). Between 1989 and 1992, Super Speak & amp; The mantra will see three redesigns as well. The 1992 Super Speak & amp; The mantra will mark the last release of the series.
Regional variations with different speech libraries and different games are released in at least 9 countries with seven language variations. Because of the linguistic aspect of the game being played in Speak & amp; Mantra is very important to Speak & amp; Spell titles, separate cartridge libraries developed for English (including American and English), Japanese, German, French, Italian, and Spanish markets. Beyond the consumer's natural disinterest to buy games in a foreign language, however, regional locking does not prevent the use of expansion module cartridges on consoles that are not designed for them. Since the layout of the foreign edition is almost identical (the only major difference is the graph, color, and placement of the power jack/headset), and the cartridge has no lockout, the cartridges often give instructions in multiple languages ​​even though their appointment is for a consumer group who may not understand the language.
In 1980, Speak & amp; The spell is redesigned to give it a membrane keyboard replacing the raised button. This version is almost identical to the first release and with a backward compatible track record common to all Speak & amp; Mantra except the first version of Super Speak & amp; Mantra, an entire library of cartridges from the original release available for the 1980 release. Outside the United States, the 1980 release was marketed in the UK of the same name, in German as Buddy (using umlaut as Speak & Spell speech), and in France as La DictÃÆ' Â © e Magique (lit. The Magic Dictation).
In 1982, Speak & amp; Summary Mantra released about half the size of Speak & amp; Spell and less VFD screen. The Speak & amp; Shortcuts is a special console and just one other version, Speak & amp; Write, released for the UK market. Talk & amp; Spell Compact sales are very bad in the United States, causing IT to send a lot of excess stock overseas. The English Marketing Manager Martin Finn has a product labeled for the UK, and all units are blue and repackaged.
In 1983, Speak & amp; More redesigned spell. The change was even more minute, however, representing no more importance than the redesign of the faceplate graph. This version was first marketed in Italy as Grillo Parlante (lit. Talking Cricket as a book character for the children of The Adventures of Pinocchio), and later in the United States and Great Britain as Speak & amp; Mantra, and in France as DictÃÆ' Â © e Magique again.
Super Speak & amp; Mantra was released in 1989 with a number of major changes. The display screen is changed to the LCD screen, not on the previous VFD screen. The keyboard layout is also modified to fit the standard QWERTY keyboard rather than the ABC keyboard. The general structure of the console is also changed so that the handle that appears at the top of the screen in Speak & amp; Mantra is now found at the bottom of the toy and ergonomic features added to the form. Furthermore, game cartridges for Super Speak & amp; Mantra changed so that it is not compatible with Speak & amp; Spells and cartridge slots are also changed to prevent backward compatibility.
Next year Super Speak & amp; Mantra is again redesigned on a massive scale to return to a level large enough for Speak & amp; Spelling form. This version re-adopts the handle-on-top look of the previous model and the original cartridge reuse. Use of LCD display and QWERTY keyboard is maintained; However, the keyboard gets an additional 5 letters (6 in some areas) to match the letters that require diacritics. It was first marketed in Spain as El Loro ParlanchÃÆ'n ( The Chatty Parrot ), and later in the United States as Super Speak & amp; Mantra, in French as La Super DictÃÆ' Â © e Magique, and in Italian as Grillo Parlante PiÃÆ'¹ (lit. Speaking Cricket Plus).
In 1992, the third redesign of Super Speak & amp; Mantra is made for the Spanish market only. The new version is almost identical to the previous El Loro ParlanchÃÆ'n save for the name that became El Loro Professor ( Professor Parrot ).
Electronics
The Speak & amp; Spell uses the first single-chip sound synthesizer TMC0280, which is then called TI TMS5100, which utilizes the 10th Linear Predictive Encoding (OrPC) coding model using the electronic DSP pipelink logic. This chip variant with very similar sound will eventually be used on certain Chrysler vehicles in the 1980s as Electronic Voice Alert.
Speech synthesis of data (phoneme data) for spoken words is stored on a pair of 128 Kbit metal gate PMOS ROM. 128 Kbit is the largest capacity ROM time used. Additional memory module cartridges can be alternately attached to slots in the battery compartment and selected through keys on the keyboard. The technique used to create words is to have a professional speaker who speaks words. It was caught and processed. Initially all recording and processing completed in Dallas. In 1982 when the English, French, Italian and German versions were being developed, the original sound was recorded at the IT facility near Nice in France and the full bit rate digital recordings were sent to Dallas for processing using a mini-computer. A few weeks later the processed data is returned and significant handwriting is needed to correct the voicemail errors that occurred during the process. Data rates are so radically cut that all words require editing. In some cases this is quite simple, but some words are incomprehensible and require workdays and others should be completely removed. Saved data is for specific words and phrases used in Speak & amp; Spell. Data rates are about 1,000 bits per second.
The video-screen used in Speak & amp; Mantra is a vacuum fluorescent display (VFD). Super Speak & amp; The mantra model, has a much slimmer casing and LCD screen than a VFD screen.
This unit can use 4 "C" batteries or DC 6 volt power adapter with positive tip polarity.
Cartridges
The cartridge (also known as an expansion module) is a freely exchangeable ROM library that provides additional content without providing additional functionality. This cartridge is plugged into a slot near the battery compartment to introduce a new software library. The list of words and games has different lengths depending on the cartridges and word lists in models marketed for different languages ​​reflecting the marketed language. A separate word list also exists for regional variants such as English and American versions of English. The glossary used in each regional model reflects educator recommendations in each country. The English, French, German and Italian versions were all created by a non-specialist team, at the IT plant near Antibes, France, under the supervision of Larry Brantingham who has patented the underlying technology.
Examples of educational games that can be played using Speak & amp; Spell cartridges include:
- Say It - Spellings game where players have to spell ten words after hearing them "talk" by the unit. The E.T. Fantasy Module tie-in (based on the appearance of toys in the movie ET the Extra-Terrestrial ) asks players to spell words like "geranium", "universe", and "creature".
- Mystery - The electronic version of the hangman
- Secret Code - A code generation program where players enter words in Speak & amp; Spell and console returns words in code.
- Letter - Another algorithm that lets a player change the word he has entered by sliding the letters some space down the alphabet.
- Drop It - Super Speak & amp; Spell a game where players will see how new words are created by adding prefixes and suffixes.
- Memory - Super Speak & amp; Spell games where letter introduction and visual memory capabilities are tested.
- Mystery - Super Speak & amp; Spell game in which the pattern of letters in words and visual memory is developed.
- Mix - Super Speak & amp; Spell the game in which the pattern of words and the relationship between the sounds of the letters and spellings are tested.
- Same As - Super Speak & amp; Spell the game in which the homophones are tested.
- A.C.E. - Super Speak & amp; Spell game where abbreviations, contractions, and word endings are tested.
- Racing - Super Speak & amp; Spelling games that remember fast, accurate spelling skills, and touch typing are tested with time limits.
The mini-game "Secret Code" will encrypt or decrypt the "word" (actually, any string up to 8 letters) by matching two alphabetical sets, slightly skewed, in the form of a Caesar password. In the game, C and D, P, and Q match and run in the opposite direction:
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A B C D E F G H I J K L M D A P P R S T U V W X Y Z -
F E D C B A Z Y X W V U T S S T T A N M L K J I H G
Adjustment of home computer
Some commercial retailers offer hardware and software that allows home computers to interact with Speak & amp; Spell hardware and access capabilities, and Larry Dighera first revealed how it can be solved.
Percom Data Company offers a PC Card called "Speak-2-Me-2" mounted on the battery compartment Speak & amp; Spelled, and connected via cable to TRS-80.
East Coast Micro Products offers hardware to connect 6502-based computers such as Commodore 64 and Apple IIe with Speak & amp; Spell. Program called "S.peek.uP" is marketed that can control this hardware.
February 1983 issue of Computers & amp; Electronics contains instructions for interacting with Speak & amp; Spell with Sinclair ZX-80 a Sinclair ZX-81, or Timex 1000.
Texas Instruments itself then adapted Speak & amp; Spelling Technology became a greeting synthesizer accessory for its popular TI-99/4A computer.
Emulation
The Speak & amp; Spell (as well as "Speak & amp; Math" and "Speak & amp; Read") are emulated, running the original code, by MESS.
A number of Speak & amp; Spell (not emulation, as they do not run native code) has appeared online in recent years with varying levels of functionality. Often programmed for Flash, this is often the result of nostalgic sentiment for the 1980s.
Examples of simulators that are generally available online include:
- SASS - A fully functional non-Flash simulator created by Mike Green in 1999
- Say & amp; Spell Online - a Flash-based web app with partial functionality created by Jake Smith in 2002
- Say & amp; Spell Emulator - a Flash-based web application with full functionality created by Kevin St.Onge in 2006
Legacy
In commercial music
The Speak & amp; Mantra has been used in recent years in commercial music as an instrument either in its original form or as a modified "crooked" circuit instrument (see below). Artists such as French electronic musician Jean Michel Jarre have used music samples from Speak & amp; The opening sequence of spells in their songs. Artists in a variety of other (usually electronic) genres have used non-musical vocal parts from Speak & amp; Spell to make vocal parts in their songs. Thus, Speech- & amp; speech synthesis -Spell-generated has been featured in alternative music (with artists like Beck, Coldplay and Limp Bizkit), electronic music (with artists like RÃÆ'¶yksopp and Robyn and Kraftwerk), synthpop (with the group as the Orchestra Maneuver in Dark, Freezepop, and Erasure ), music trance (eg S? ta Fujimori), electropop (eg TLC), Christian rock (eg Band Resurrection, Family Force 5), pop (eg Cheetah Girls), and hip hop (eg Naya Rivera).
The debut album of English band Depeche Mode synthpop in 1981, Talk & amp; Spell , named after referring to Speak & amp; Spell.
Circuit arch
Some musicians also use the modified "circuit bent" Speak & amp; Spell units in their compositions. By opening Speak & amp; Mantra cases, cross-cable terminals, and installing electronic components such as switches and potentiometers, amateur fans deliberately interfere with normal function Speak & amp; Turn off the mantra keyboard matrix circuit to create new sounds. This modification acts to overwhelm the unit switch unit matrix to produce known effects in the electronic field as a key or ghosting interruption. This effect can be triggered in Speak & amp; Spell without modification if more than 3 buttons on the same line are pressed simultaneously; however, in the culture of bending circuits, the emphasis is given to the fact that these units are used as instruments and thus components that can be manipulated externally are often emphasized. Great attention can be given to improving the visual aesthetics of the unit by adding decoration and repainting "bent" Speak & amp; Mantra, and these units have been traded and sold online and in the circuit buffer community.
Examples of artists who have used circuit bent Speak & amp; Mantra in their compositions include Beck, CocoRosie, Eisbrecher, Experimental Audio Research, Fantasia, Scrabbel, Venetian Snares, and Claude Woodward Sonic Manipulator.
In popular culture
The Speak & amp; Spell features in various electronic museums such as the Computer History Museum and the Smithsonian National Museum of American History because of its seminal influence in the field of modern speech synthesis. The Speak & amp; Mantra is also featured in the Game On exhibition as an example of a handheld video game.
The Speak & amp; Mantra has appeared on various television shows, movies and gaming performances. A Speak & amp; Spell has an important role as a key component of interstellar alien interstellar communicator in the movie Steven Spielberg E.T. Extra-Terrestrial . Talk & amp; Mantra also makes appearances in movies like Pixar's Toy Story and Toy Story 2 (where the gaming device is a character named "Mr. Spell"), Bride of Chucky (where the puppets are owned, Chucky plays with one), in Poltergeist III (used by the character Carol Anne Freeling), and in the music video for the song "Playgirl" by the Ladytron synthpop band and "Fireflies" by Owl City.
Variant
Speak and Read line
The Speak & amp; Read released in 1980 with a form identical to Speak & amp; Mantra but with different game features and different color schemes. Where is American Speak & amp; Mantra has been colored red with yellow and orange accents, American Speak & amp; Read in yellow with blue and green accents. Game cartridge for Speak & amp; Read identical in shape with the main Speak & amp; The spell line, and they can be physically put into the unit from the wrong line; However, they do not work except in their own line members. The Speak & amp; Read is designed to focus on reading comprehension in children ages 4-8 with a literature of more than 250 basic words.
The Speak & amp; A very thoroughly redesigned read in 1986, with the same name, with the new version representing nothing more important than the redesign of the faceplate graph. In 1988, Super Speak & amp; Read released as a major redesign to display a flip-open look of the suitcase. The cartridges are redesigned to be thinner and different shapes, with some resemblance to the IT Touch & amp; Find the line. In addition, the keyboard has been completely removed and the membrane button matrix takes its place with the sensitive "keyboard" position of the Touch & amp; Find the console. Each cartridge comes with a workbook that will be placed in the open position in the middle of Super Speak & amp; Read and when the question is asked to the player, he will hit the right workbook section to press the membrane button underneath. This is the last member of Speak & amp; Read the line under this name; However, Ready... Set... Read! (sharing a very similar design layout) and then Magic Reading Desk (displaying Ready layout... Set... Read! that has been modified) is considered as Speak & amp; Spiritual successor Read it. Both Ready... Arrange... Read! and the Magic Reading Desk cartridges are identical in design for Super Speak & amp; Read Cartridges.
Talk and Math lines
The Speak & amp; Mathematics (sold as "Speak and Maths" in some countries) was released in 1980 with a form identical to Speak & amp; Spell & Spell & amp; Read but with a completely different keyboard layout, different game features, and different color schemes. Where is American Speak & amp; Mantra has been colored red with yellow and orange accents, American Speak & amp; Math is gray with orange and orange highlights. The Speak & amp; Mathematics is designed to focus on mathematics in children ages 6-12 with a library of more than 100,000 random and programmed problems. It was regarded as the spiritual successor to the early DataMan series of IT, with the distinction mainly related to the addition of speech synthesis software and visual display. The Speak & amp; Mathematics is only released to the American and British markets.
In 1982, a shortened version of Speak & amp; Mathematics developed in conjunction with Speak & amp; Short Spell. This version is only released in French as Les Maths Magique (lit. The Magical Math). The redesigned version was developed in 1985 for the UK market under the name of the miracle of Mathematics. It was later released in Italian as Dotto Conta-Parla, in French as le Calcul magique (lit. Magical Calculator), and in German as Mathe-Fix.
The Speak & amp; Mathematics was meticulously redesigned in 1986, with the same name, with a new version representing nothing more important than the redesign of the faceplate graph. In 1990 Super Speak & amp; Mathematics was released as a major redesign similar to the first version of Super Speak & amp; Spell. Like Super Speak & amp; Mantra, screen display from Super Speak & amp; Math is converted to LCD screen, not previous VFD screen. The keyboard is also expanded and given more functions. The general structure of the console is also changed the same as Super Speak & amp; Spell in such a way that the grip that appears at the top of the screen in Speak & amp; The math unit is now found at the bottom of the toy and the ergonomic features are added to the shape.
Other Solid State Speech Products
Solid State Speech Texas Instruments technology finds its way into a number of other titles that are also related to Speak & amp; The spell line. Examples include:
- Talk & amp; Learn Magic Wand - An electronic game based worklet featuring the use of infra-red barcode reader technology.
- Say & amp; Music - A music audio game that allows free form and memory based (rhythm memory, eidetic musical memory, etc.).
- Ready... Set... Read! - Considered the spiritual successor to Speak & amp; Read the line.
- The Magic Reading Table - Considered as the spiritual successor to Ready... Set... Read! and Say & amp; Read the line.
- Little Maestro - A musical audio game intended for younger children than Speak & amp; Music.
More games
A number of other game lines from TI were produced during the period when producing Speak & amp; The spelling game has logically similar conjunctive titles and uses similar technology even though it does not involve the use of Solid State Speech technology. Such games include:
- Touch & amp; Tell - 1978 educational game intended for children aged 2 to 5 using position-sensitive keyboards. The synthesized voice asks the children and children to touch the answers on the keyboard.
- Teddy Touch & amp; Say - The next generation of Touch & amp; Tell the game, Teddy Touch & amp; Tell is shaped like a bear and educates children about alphabetical topics, numbers, colors, animals, and music.
- Touch & amp; Discover - Educational game that uses a position-sensitive matrix membrane keyboard. Touch & amp; Discover is considered the precursor of Super Speak & amp; Read. Disney licensed their character to Texas Instruments for this toy, and Touch & amp; Discover using "Disney's first synthesized sound.
- Touch & amp; Discover School Edition - Touch Generation & Find the console, Touch & Discover School Edition is for a slightly older audience.
- Touch & amp; Talkies - A special handheld series, there are four versions of Touch & amp; Talkies are all for very young players.
- Listen & amp; Learn - First electronics, educational toys to market for babies, Listen & amp; Learning toys is a series of 3 electronic themed toys aimed at children between 6 and 36 months. These toys of dodecahedron (12-sided) spherical, are motion and sensitive directly. The toy reacts to the side that landed on top when it is rolled up, and produces a sound corresponding to the image above.
See also
- Education software
- Educational toys
References
External links
- Interview with Speak & amp; Spell Co-Creator Richard Wiggins (Benj Edwards, Computing and Vintage Games, 2008)
- Talk & amp; Spell the fan information page
- Say & amp; Mantra 1978 Simulator for Windows (in Japanese)
- Speaking & amp; web-based Mantra simulator
- Chip Collection at Smithsonian - TI Speak & amp; Spell Learning Aid
- Datamath - Speak & amp; Spelling information page
- HawkVoice - a Windows-based audio encoder, includes LPC capabilities
- The story of making British Speak & amp; Spell
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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