Edmund Edward Fournier d’Albe invented the optophone, then Mary Jameson spent six decades proving what it could do and helping shape what it became.
In this episode:
- The exploring optophone: Fournier d’Albe’s 1912 selenium device for “hearing” light
- Mary Jameson: The blind reader who tested, taught, and tuned the optophone by ear, then helped shape the reading machines that followed.
- Reading by absence: Why the first optophone readers listened for the notes that disappeared.
- The black-sounding optophone: What happened when a second selenium cell let the ink itself make sound.
- Barr & Stroud: The precision optics company that worked with Fournier d’Albe and Jameson to turn a fragile prototype into a sturdier machine.
Episode Music:
Archival Audio:
Chan, T., Goertz, K., Morgan, D., Murawski, V., & Sayers, J. (n.d.). [Video demonstrating the process of prototyping a reading optophone] [Video, Fig. 8]. In T. Chan, M. Mills, & J. Sayers, Optophonic reading, prototyping optophones. Amodern, 8. https://amodern.net/article/optophonic-reading/
Jameson, M. (ca. 1970). [Tape-recorded letter to Harvey Lauer comparing the British optophone and the visotoner] [Audio recording]. Harvey Lauer personal collection; digitized by Mara Mills. In T. Chan, M. Mills, & J. Sayers, Optophonic reading, prototyping optophones (Fig. 9). Amodern, 8. https://amodern.net/article/optophonic-reading/
Rubery, M. (2015, August 23). “How we read”: The optophone [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0wuIv1JVGU
Additional Reading:
Chan, T., Mills, M., & Sayers, J. (2018). Optophonic reading, prototyping optophones. Amodern, 8. https://amodern.net/article/optophonic-reading/
Fournier d’Albe, E. E. (1920). The optophone: An instrument for reading by ear. Nature, 105(2636), 295-296. https://archive.org/details/sim_nature-uk_1920-05-06_105_2636/page/294/mode/2up
Jameson, M. (1966). The optophone: Its beginning and development. Bulletin of Prosthetics Research, 10(5), 25-28. https://www.duxburysystems.org/downloads/library/history/va_1966_25.pdf
Mills, M. (2015, January 5). Optophones and musical print. Sounding Out! https://soundstudiesblog.com/2015/01/05/optophones-and-musical-print/
St Dunstan’s. (1954, February). Chairman’s notes. St Dunstan’s Review, 37(413). https://blindveterans.maxarchiveservices.co.uk/uploads/st_dunstans_review/0413_Feb_1954_compressed.pdf
Thomas, E. (2021, June 23). A century ago, the optophone allowed blind people to hear the printed word. IEEE Spectrum. https://spectrum.ieee.org/a-century-ago-the-optophone-allowed-blind-people-to-hear-the-printed-word
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