Editing Wolfgang von Kempelen's Speaking Machine (1769) (section)

== Historical Context ==
In the 18th century, there was a flourishing of mechanical engineering and automation, marking the era of automata, which also included advancements in speech automation technology. <ref>Trouvain J, Brackhane F. The relevance of today Wolfgang von Kempelen's speaking machine[J]. Phonus. Research Reports of the Institute of Phonetics at the University of the Saarland, 2011, 16: 149-166.</ref>Around 1780, Wolfgang von Kempelen produced the first ever fully functional mechanical speech synthesizer, known as the speaking machine. During this time, he became interested in the issue of speech among the deaf-mute community. More fundamentally, the prevailing importance and significance of speech motivated his work, reflecting the pervasive focus on this aspect of human communication during that period.<ref name=":0">Dudley H, Tarnoczy T H. The speaking machine of Wolfgang von Kempelen[J]. The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 1950, 22(2): 151-166.</ref>


In the century preceding von Kempelen, linguists, physicists, psychologists, and speech teachers engaged in extensive speculation and exploration of the mechanics of speech.<ref name=":0" />Meanwhile, the knowledge of sound, acoustics, and phonetics was relatively limited, so rather than basing his speaking machine on acoustic theories, Kempelen opted for an engineering approach of analysis-by-synthesis or trial and error. He aimed to achieve an audible result through a simple mechanism closely resembling our articulatory apparatus (the various parts of the human speech mechanism, including the lips, tongue, vocal cords, and so on), yet playable like a musical instrument.<ref>Pompino-Marschall B. Von Kempelen et al.: remarks on the history of articulatory-acoustic modelling[J]. ZAS Papers in Linguistics, 2005, 40: 145-159.</ref>


However, the sounds produced by von Kempelen's synthesizer failed to meet the expectations of the 20th-century human ear, given the advancement in technology leading to the accustomed perfection or near-perfection in the reproduction of the human voice. Nevertheless, von Kempelen's contemporaries, unaccustomed to such technological advancements, were satisfied with the speaking machine, which adequately met their needs and expectations.<ref>van den Broecke M P R. Wolfgang von Kempelen's speaking machine as a performer[J]. Sound Structures. Studies for Antonie Cohen. Dordrecht: Foris, 1983: 9-19.</ref>This era marked the initial explorations in speech technology, laying the groundwork for the subsequent development of sound synthesis and speech technologies.