Articulatory Synthesis - Mechanical Talking Heads

Mechanical Talking Heads

There is a long history of attempts to build mechanical "talking heads." Speech synthesis#Mechanical devices. Gerbert (d. 1003), Albertus Magnus (1198–1280) and Roger Bacon (1214–1294) are all said to have built speaking heads (Wheatstone 1837). However, historically confirmed speech synthesis begins with Wolfgang von Kempelen (1734–1804), who published an account of his research in 1791 (see also Dudley and Tarnoczy 1950).

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