Speak & Read
Encyclopedia
Speak & Read was an electronic
learning aid
made in 1980, by Texas Instruments
. Speak and Read was part of a family of learning toy
s aimed at different subjects, i.e. "Speak & Math
" and "Speak and Spell
".
Speak & Read was designed to help children from ages 4 to 8 develop and improve their reading comprehension and vocabulary. http://smithsonianchips.si.edu/texas/ref433.htm Speak & Read came with a companion booklet for use with the various skill activity modes included in the unit. The learning toy had a vocabulary of 250 words. http://www.datamath.org/Speech/SpeaknRead.htm
(VFD). Speak & Read units utilized a membrane keyboard for input. The Speak & Read used a single-chip voice synthesizer, the TI TMC0280 (later called the TMS5100), that was also used in the Speak & Spell. The TMS5100 utilized a 10th-order linear predictive coding
(LPC) model and the electronic DSP
logic..
LPC encoded speech data was stored on a pair of TMS6100
128 Kbit metal gate serial PMOS ROMs. 128 Kbit was a very large capacity ROM in the early 1980s. Additional memory modules could be plugged into a slot in the battery compartment and selected via a button on the keyboard. A later model, the Super Speak & Read, had a much slimmer case and an LCD
screen rather than a VFD screen.
The unit could use either 4 "C" batteries or 6 volt DC
power adapter with positive tip polarity.
A picture of the Speak & Read can be found here: http://www.datamath.org/Speech/Images/SpeaknRead.jpg
Electronics
Electronics is the branch of science, engineering and technology that deals with electrical circuits involving active electrical components such as vacuum tubes, transistors, diodes and integrated circuits, and associated passive interconnection technologies...
learning aid
Instructional technology
In education, instructional technology is "the theory and practice ofdesign, development, utilization, management, and evaluation of processes and resources for learning," according to the Association for Educational Communications and Technology Definitions and Terminology Committee...
made in 1980, by Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments Inc. , widely known as TI, is an American company based in Dallas, Texas, United States, which develops and commercializes semiconductor and computer technology...
. Speak and Read was part of a family of learning toy
Toy
A toy is any object that can be used for play. Toys are associated commonly with children and pets. Playing with toys is often thought to be an enjoyable means of training the young for life in human society. Different materials are used to make toys enjoyable and cuddly to both young and old...
s aimed at different subjects, i.e. "Speak & Math
Speak & Math
The Speak & Math was a popular and revolutionary electronic toy created by Texas Instruments in 1980. Speak & Math was one of a three-part talking educational toy series that also included Speak & Spell and Speak & Read...
" and "Speak and Spell
Speak & Spell (toy)
The Speak & Spell line is a series of electronic handheld educational toys created by Texas Instruments that consist of a speech synthesizer, a keyboard, and a receptor slot to receive one of a collection of ROM game library modules...
".
Speak & Read was designed to help children from ages 4 to 8 develop and improve their reading comprehension and vocabulary. http://smithsonianchips.si.edu/texas/ref433.htm Speak & Read came with a companion booklet for use with the various skill activity modes included in the unit. The learning toy had a vocabulary of 250 words. http://www.datamath.org/Speech/SpeaknRead.htm
Electronics
The display was a vacuum fluorescent displayVacuum fluorescent display
A vacuum fluorescent display is a display device used commonly on consumer-electronics equipment such as video cassette recorders, car radios, and microwave ovens. Invented in Japan in 1967, the displays became common on calculators and other consumer electronics devices...
(VFD). Speak & Read units utilized a membrane keyboard for input. The Speak & Read used a single-chip voice synthesizer, the TI TMC0280 (later called the TMS5100), that was also used in the Speak & Spell. The TMS5100 utilized a 10th-order linear predictive coding
Linear predictive coding
Linear predictive coding is a tool used mostly in audio signal processing and speech processing for representing the spectral envelope of a digital signal of speech in compressed form, using the information of a linear predictive model...
(LPC) model and the electronic DSP
Digital signal processing
Digital signal processing is concerned with the representation of discrete time signals by a sequence of numbers or symbols and the processing of these signals. Digital signal processing and analog signal processing are subfields of signal processing...
logic..
LPC encoded speech data was stored on a pair of TMS6100
TMS6100
The Texas Instruments TMS6100 is a 1 or 4-bit serial mask-programmed read-only memory IC. It is a companion chip to the TMS5100, CD2802, TMS5110, TMS5200, and TMS5220 speech synthesizer ICs, and was mask-programmed with LPC data required for a specific product...
128 Kbit metal gate serial PMOS ROMs. 128 Kbit was a very large capacity ROM in the early 1980s. Additional memory modules could be plugged into a slot in the battery compartment and selected via a button on the keyboard. A later model, the Super Speak & Read, had a much slimmer case and an LCD
Liquid crystal display
A liquid crystal display is a flat panel display, electronic visual display, or video display that uses the light modulating properties of liquid crystals . LCs do not emit light directly....
screen rather than a VFD screen.
The unit could use either 4 "C" batteries or 6 volt DC
Direct current
Direct current is the unidirectional flow of electric charge. Direct current is produced by such sources as batteries, thermocouples, solar cells, and commutator-type electric machines of the dynamo type. Direct current may flow in a conductor such as a wire, but can also flow through...
power adapter with positive tip polarity.
Games included
Speak & Read had five built-in learning games: Word Zapper, Word Maker, Read It, Picture Read, Letter Stumper, and Hear It. Picture Read required looking up pictures in the supplementary booklet that came with the unit. Eight expansion modules were known to have been made for the Speak & Read by 1986.A picture of the Speak & Read can be found here: http://www.datamath.org/Speech/Images/SpeaknRead.jpg
