{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O1669063"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1669063/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2023NL2707/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2023NL2707/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"high","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2023NL2707","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":{"_iiif_pres":"https://iiif.vam.ac.uk/collections/O1669063/manifest.json","_alt_iiif_pres":[]}},"record":{"systemNumber":"O1669063","accessionNumber":"B.20-2022","objectType":"Educational toy","titles":[{"title":"Speak & Spell","type":"manufacturer's title"}],"summaryDescription":"The Speak and Spell is a revolutionary children’s electronic teaching device and plaything first sold around the world in 1978. It consists of a portable plastic console with alphabetical membrane keyboard and a vacuum fluorescent display that could show  words made of letters in a seven-segment formation. It teaches spelling through electronic synthesis of letter sounds and words through a variety of built-in games. It is considered to be the first portable electronic gaming device with interchangeable cartridge modules for different programmes. \r\n\r\nIt was developed by Texas Instruments Incorporated, a manufacturer of semiconductors and integrated circuit boards, based in Dallas, Texas and formed in 1951. They sold the world’s first microcontroller, a “calculator-on-a-chip”, in 1971, combining the functions of logic and memory of a calculator on a single device. This allowed for the miniaturization of calculators and, later, other electronic functions.\n\r\nFollowing success with a mathematics teaching calculator for children, the Little Professor, in 1976 the team at Texas Instruments looked to teaching language. They realised that pronunciation would require speech, and at the time, speech synthesis did not exist outside outsize laboratory computing. The toy’s development necessitated the creation of solid-state speech circuitry, with no moving parts, unlike other tape recorder or pull-string record toys of the time. This would be the first innovation in digital signal processing of audio – processors of which have led to the development of diverse devices and functions such as mobile phones, medical imaging, and weather forecasting. The device would also incorporate a technique called linear predictive coding, for  coding speech. This allowed the device to generate a word from a much smaller amount of data than a digitized recording of it would have taken up. Combining these new technologies in a toy for children’s education invited wider acceptance of computing in domestic settings. It is considered a milestone in personal computing, lauded by the USA’s Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers as a breakthrough device. \n","physicalDescription":"Handheld computer consisting of a red plastic casing with integrated handle at the top, a black plastic strip covering a speaker and a vacuum fluorescent display, and below that is a membrane keyboard with red, orange and yellow keys. The keys are an alphabetical keyboard, consonants are coloured orange, vowels are yellow, and other functions are red. The additional functions are described with yellow capital letters. With the computer is its original box. ","artistMakerPerson":[],"artistMakerOrganisations":[{"name":{"text":"Texas Instruments","id":"AUTH393077"},"association":{"text":"manufacturers","id":"AAT25230"},"note":""}],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"plastic","id":"AAT14570"},{"text":"electronic components","id":"THES274431"},{"text":"card","id":"x30344"}],"techniques":[{"text":"injection moulding","id":"AAT54070"},{"text":"printing","id":"AAT53319"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Plastic, electronic components, printed card","categories":[{"text":"Education & Learning","id":"THES252542"},{"text":"Learning (development) toys","id":"THES274383"},{"text":"Product design","id":"THES49025"},{"text":"Digital play","id":"THES274367"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"YVA","id":"THES48593"},"images":["2023NL2707"],"imageResolution":"high","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"CA003","id":"THES388362"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""},{"current":{"text":"006","id":"THES344397"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"Educational toy","id":"AAT211041"}],[{"text":"Box","id":"CIT285957"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Dallas","id":"x30480"},"association":{"text":"designed","id":"x29338"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"1978","earliest":"1978-01-01","latest":"1978-12-31"},"association":{"text":"designed","id":"x29338"},"note":"Original version"},{"date":{"text":"1980","earliest":"1980-01-01","latest":"1980-12-31"},"association":{"text":"manufactured","id":"x29350"},"note":"This version"}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"254","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"21/12/2021","earliest":"2021-12-21","latest":"2021-12-21"},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Width","value":"177","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"21/12/2021","earliest":"2021-12-21","latest":"2021-12-21"},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Depth","value":"38","unit":"mm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"21/12/2021","earliest":"2021-12-21","latest":"2021-12-21"},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Handheld children's computer, Speak & Spell, Texas Instruments, USA, 1980","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"Speak & Spell was initially released in 1978. This is an example of a second generation Speak & Spell, the most recognisable and biggest selling model, with a membrane keyboard rather than the initial design which incorporated a chiclet keyboard. ","productionType":{"text":"Mass produced","id":"THES48863"},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"alphabets","id":"AAT255216"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"<b>Words</b> \n\nChildren learn how to communicate by engaging with people around them. But learning to read means making sense of symbols on a page and understanding the sounds they represent. \n\r\nToys to help children with reading have evolved over the years from printed letter cards to more interactive electronic devices. \n\r\n<b>3 Alphabet Box</b> \r\nDesigner: Unknown \r\nDate: About 1845 \r\nLocation: Wales \r\nMaterials: Wood, printed paper \r\nMuseum no. MISC.21-1967 \n\r\n<b>4 Speak &amp; Spell</b> \r\nDesigner: Texas Instruments \r\nDate: 1978 \r\nLocation: USA \r\nMaterials: Plastic, electronics \r\nMuseum no. B.20-2022 \n\r\n<b>5 LeapPad </b>\r\nDesigner: LeapFrog Enterprises Inc \r\nDate: 2001 \r\nLocation: Designed USA, manufactured China \r\nMaterials: Plastic, paper, electronics \r\nMuseum no. B.121-2004 \n\r\n<b>6 De Luxe Typewriter </b>\r\nDesigner: Louis Marx &amp; Co. Ltd \r\nDate: 1965–69 \r\nLocation: Wales \r\nMaterials: Metal, plastic, textile \r\nGiven by Nicola Gale \r\nMuseum no. B.93-1998 ","date":{"text":"01/07/2023","earliest":"2023-07-01","latest":"2023-07-01"}}],"partNumbers":["B.20:1-2022","B.20:2-2022"],"accessionNumberNum":"20","accessionNumberPrefix":"B","accessionYear":2022,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-04-02","recordCreationDate":"2021-10-06","availableToBook":false}}