Wolfgang von Kempelen's Speaking Machine (1769)

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Introduction

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Historical Context

In 1769, Hungarian nobleman Wolfgang Ritter von Kempelen embarked on the development of a mechanical speaking machine reportedly capable of producing a diverse range of respectable speech sounds. After two decades of great efforts, Kempelen published a book in 1791 detailing his observations on human speech production and his experiments with the speaking machine.[1]


First Experiment

Kempelen's initial attempt at speaking machine involved basic components mimicking the human vocal tract. Using a kitchen bellows for airflow, a bagpipe reed as the glottis, and a clarinet bell as the mouth, he managed to produce simple vowel sounds. However, the setup lacked the necessary components for constructing most consonants, such as nasals, plosives, and fricatives. Kempelen later shifted from a single-reed design to a multiple-reed approach in his second experiment.


Second Experiment

The second design resembled a musical organ console, operated by keys representing different letters. Utilizing a common bellows and various shaped pipes, he succeeded in producing several vowels and consonants, including /p/ and /m/. However, the sounds did not blend together in a natural way and vowels in particular came on rather explosively, thus adding a k-like sound. [2] Thus, kempelen began work on his thrid design.


Third experiment

The third approach, resembling the first design, featured enhancements including a rubber mouth, a simulated "throat" with nasal cavities, and additional mechanisms for articulating specific consonants. Kempelen's machine achieved speech in multiple languages, although it struggled with pitch variation and monotone delivery. Despite certain mispronunciations, listeners often overlooked errors, viewing the machine's resonance akin to that of a young child. Nonetheless, the third design marked significant progress from Kempelen's dedicated twenty years study of the vocal tract and speech production.

Key Innovations

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Impact

Von Kempelen's travail was not for naught and his impact far from nil.[3] Kempelen's speaking machine together with the book "Mechanismus der menschlichen Sprache" ("Mechanism of Human Speech and Language") he published in 1791 in which he described his observations on human speech production and his experiments with his speaking machine had a profound and multifaceted impact on the fields of linguistics and speech synthesis, influencing both the development of new ideas in linguistic research and advancements in audio engineering.

1. Contributions to linguistic research

  • Vowel Classification: Kempelen's innovative vowel classification based on lip and tongue channel width represented a novel approach to the study of speech sound physical properties. This classification provided linguists with valuable insights into the articulatory mechanisms underlying vowel production.While before Von Kempelen the larynx was considered central to speech production, his simple and successful demonstration drew the attention of 19th-century scientists to the vocal tract, the cavity between the glottis and the lips, as the main site of acoustic articulation.[3]
  • Pitch and Vowels: Kempelen's observation of how tongue channel width influenced the pitch of vowels added a new dimension to the study of speech. His work opened pathways for further research into the production and perception of vowel sounds, exploring the complex relationship between speech articulation and acoustic characteristics.
  • Historical Context: By connecting Kempelen's work with earlier research by figures like Reyher and Helmholtz, we can appreciate its place in the historical context of linguistic research. This connection emphasizes the evolution of thought in the field and underscores Kempelen's contributions in this rich tapestry of ideas.

2. Development of Speech Synthesis and Audio Engineering

  • Development of Speech Synthesis: Kempelen's research findings represented a crucial step in the development of speech synthesis. His insights into the resonating properties of the vocal tract and the impact of tube width on vowel production provided the foundational knowledge that subsequent researchers needed to simulate human speech mechanically.
  • Influence on Later Innovators: Innovators like Willis and Wheatstone, who built upon Kempelen's ideas, gained insights into resonating properties and developed theories of multiple resonance. These advancements in speech synthesis technologies were directly influenced by Kempelen's early work, making it a key milestone in the history of speech technology.
  • Integration of Ideas: The passage mentions that modern understanding recognizes the complementary nature of harmonic analysis and resonance analysis. This acknowledgment underscores how Kempelen's ideas were integrated into contemporary research, leading to a more comprehensive understanding of speech synthesis and its acoustic underpinnings.

Future research

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. [4]

References

To insert a reference, type <ref> and paste the source your exported from Zotero (or whatever reference manager you're using) in the pop up box which appears. Make sure links in citations are clickable using proper formatting. Once you do this, a footnote will appear.[5] and a reference comes at the end automatically. Please use this method to cite for Wiki articles only, not for your thesis.

  1. Schroeder M R. A brief history of synthetic speech[J]. Speech communication, 1993, 13(1-2): 231-237.
  2. 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.
  3. Schroeder, Manfred R. “A Brief History of Synthetic Speech.” Speech Communication 13, no. 1–2 (October 1993): 231–37. https://doi.org/10.1016/0167-6393(93)90074-U.
  4. Feng, S., Kudina, O., Halpern, B. M., & Scharenborg, O. (2021). Quantifying Bias in Automatic Speech Recognition (arXiv:2103.15122). arXiv. http://arxiv.org/abs/2103.15122
  5. Glantz, Richard "SHOEBOX: a personal file handling system for textual data." In Proceedings of the November 17-19, 1970, Fall Joint Computer Conference 1970. 535-545. [1]