Kurzweil's Revolutionary reading devices for the blind

[@n0mainstream]

I'm totally blind and I had the privilage of owning one of these. It was huge but man it got the job done for sure.

[@pigeonette1]

@Gaming York accessibility settings and whatnot

[@zachmiller9175]

@Gaming York all modern operating systems that I know of have settings for reading aloud the text on screen, I can only imagine how much easier the internet has made it for the blind to pursue their interests.

[@stgigamovement]

@@zachmiller9175 Netflix has the ability for certain content to use an audio track containing an audio description of the scene. In shows like BBC's Sherlock, the audio description can reveal stuff in the background that is subtle to seeing people. Also films like Back to the Future have audio descriptions. In addition, one can enable audio descriptions for 5.1 surround sound works, thus broadening the experience so to speak. For people who have low vision AND low hearing, one can enable Closed Captions or subtitles on top of the audio descriptions, and then where usable put the text from the caption into a braille display, and have the audio description 5.1 track amplified, so that the most information can be gleaned by those who have low vision AND are hard of hearing at the same time.

[@salvatoreshiggerino6810]

Do you have a way of determining whether a video is likely to make sense to just listen to? Or is it just a matter of clicking and hoping it's not going to waste your time?

[@stgigamovement]

@@salvatoreshiggerino6810 captions with a braille display could work, but scrubbing would be needed, which can be done via arrow keys and number keys

[@zappawench6048]

As a secretary that had to use OCR because the boss thought that scanning it and converting it to a word document was a straightforward process, the blind people who relied on this have my sympathy. I often found it quicker and easier to copy type the whole page, rather than go through the mangled text produced by OCR and correcting it.

[@TheOnjLouis]

Matt, first and foremost, I hope you and your relative are doing as well as can be, given the circumstances. I thank you for a very educational and interesting video. Being blind myself, Iv’e come across various OCR solutions over the years, but interestingly enough, never this particular one. These days, OCR can be had in so many different ways, and the most easy one is on my iPhone. There are free and paid apps that can read a document not only after taking a picture of it and scanning it for review, but in genuine realtime now, so a user can point their phone at a sign, document, or even a live TV with scrolling text on it and have it read out immediately. It kind of blows my mind how far we’ve come in only what, 44 years or so? A mere blip in history and technology has allowed me to be able to take in printed (or scrolling) text at a glance, just as you yourself do. Perhaps the accuracy isn’t quite as good when it’s on-the-fly like that, but still crazy.

[@joshuascholar3220]

Ah, apps. I didn't think of that.

[@Panj0]

What did you use to write this comment? The grammar, punctuation and spelling are well above the quality of the average yt commentator lol

[@TheOnjLouis]

@@Panj0 I typed it out using my iPhone and a Bluetooth keyboard, my usual way of commenting on youtube videos.

[@ccllvn]

@@TheOnjLouis that was some interesting info, thanks for sharing.

[@cavemanvi]

ironic that the best written and most coherent message on youtube ive ever read was written by a blind man. youre a G andre.

[@Charonupthekuiper]

Scan “A Brief History of Time” and give it an authentic sound.

[@glenkamo]

bravo

[@Shadowstray]

Better yet, listen to The Brief History of Rhyme

[@theycallme_nightmaster]

kek

[@jauregi2726]

❤️

[@ironspike171]

Mat is a 100% Brit Gentleman and OG: Aplogizes for „unusual video“ while taking care of the elterly. At the same time he lets the device rap to Eminem.... THANK YOU!

[@Maverick7r]

I am a computer tech and used to work with a wonderful lady that was almost completely blind. She used the JAWS software on her computer with the reading speed set really fast. After working with and assisting her for so long I actually can still hear and understand what is being said at that speed. It was really neat how you brain can evolve as you work with different things like this. Great video as always!!!

[@laptop006]

PCMCIA: People Can't Memorise Computer Industry Acronyms

[@goreobsessed2308]

Nah I've got a few hundred memorized just takes commitment

[@peterlinddk]

Yes! Only after learning that this was what the abbreviation meant, I was able to remember it ... have no idea what the true meaning is, though ...

[@misterkite]

which is why it was renamed to "pc card" in 1991.

[@SuPerbMusiCFan]

@@goreobsessed2308 I'm still looking for who tf asked.

[@jdatlas4668]

@@peterlinddk Personal Computer Memory Card International Association. Don’t ask me how I got that burnt into my brain.

[@andrewwang8204]

This intro is incredibly Tom Scott like.

[@MRguywithlazereyes]

You beat me to it. Was gonna comment exactly what u said lol

[@Dyl_Apple]

Thought the same thing, though the reason for the intro may be a little unfortunate, I like that intro he should do more intros like that

[@kevinjokipii4260]

I was thinking James Burke

[@spencerfalzy]

I read this before the video started and I was still not prepared for it lmao

[@michaelwhittaker4246]

The world needs a Techmoan/Tom Scott team up.

[@MCPicoli]

Your video, even with a "few rough edges" manages to be better than 95% of the content found elsewhere!

[@donaloflynn]

I can't even identify any rough edges in this and I edit audio and video as part of my profession.

[@nvrndingsmmr]

I completely agree

[@breisleach74]

Definitely agree. At least he cares about it.

[@crazyentertainment4842]

Had to end the 666 I'm the 667th lol

[@erictwhitman]

As a special educator, it's really cool to see the origins of some of the assistive technology that we use. OCR is also used for students with learning disabilities who might need documents read aloud. While it's rough around the edges and was prohibitively expensive, I'm thankful for what it started.

[@video99couk]

I'm most impressed with how your microphone was putting up with the wind in Scarborough. The wind shield worked very well indeed.

[@andrewyellstrom2585]

I couldn't stop thinking the same thing

[@oliverhalenius]

The real audio was probably recorded In post

[@goodsocksproductions9397]

Oh holy cow, I didn't even notice it was windy. That's super insane

[@blacksunshine7485]

He had just enough time to slip a video in after dumping the body. Excellent.

[@PongoXBongo]

@@blacksunshine7485 Explains how he gots his hands a rare and expensive bit of tech. Wonder if he fake GPSed him right off the cliff?

[@QuickTimeVelocity]

Words cannot articulate just how grateful I am every day that we've got someone like you online providing content such as this. If there's anyone I can think of as a British National Treasure in my mind, you're one of 'em, Matt. ;)

[@Akuzastar]

"I'm beginning to feel like a rap god" Suddenly I feel the need to buy one of these.

[@mithrandirearendur1282]

No need! Look up Dectalk software and find a free version and you can make it say whatever you want!

[@tortron]

@@mithrandirearendur1282 The old microsoft chat with the cartoon characters could do it reasonably well, used to play with that making it talk a lot as a kid with no internet

[@EvileDik]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/eqevgaCjp9SZe8k, your're welcome (beware offensive lyrics) apparently the real Hawkins found this hilarious apart from the swearing.

[@cirebyte7588]

"I'm sorry Dave I'm afraid I cant do that"

[@medworthy]

@Techmoan should have giving the device the lyrics to Daisy Bell (Daisy, Daisy / give me your answer, do. / I'm half crazy / all for the love of you).

[@Crispy_Bee]

@@medworthy and then reduce the voice speed

[@f1reb4ll77]

Nah, it's K.I.T.T., see the running light

[@Conenion]

@@singletona082 HAL9000 was spoken by Douglas Rain with some sound effects.

[@spgoo1]

Daisy, daiiiiissssyyy day seee seee c c c c c da da c c c c c

[@JustAManFromThePast]

I'm blind myself, and when I was reading about futurology and the singularity from Ray Kurzweil I was reminded of the Kurzweil reader, and they are one in the same! Thanks, Ray Kurzweil for helping the blind live, and thank you techmoan for the nostalgia of being in blind summer school and learning about these devices.

[@nosville22]

user: asks machine to read a page again machine: "lmao aeiou" might be a memory issue

[@AWJR]

John Madden

[@Pehmokettu]

Post-awareness page 6 is without description

[@nosville22]

@@AWJR Football

[@tinkersmith]

Stephen Hawking seemed to have a stroke 😆

[@app0the]

Nobody: Absolutely nobody: Reading machine: comes up with the song "Brain Power" out of thin air

[@joerogers4227]

My brother and his wife are totally blind. He still uses a program called Jaws on his pc. It has been a great assist. He worked for many years at Kroger's HQ in Cincinnati. a total of over 40 years. He programmed on the IBM 360 and later as PC support.

[@MelsvanWees]

Hopefully the people you are taking care off will get better soon! I have a lot of respect for the dedication you have to us the KZbin audience to give us even in times that are tough a wonderful video! It seems that the constraints didn’t hold you back in making a very interesting video. And what a wonderful background! Take care!

[@Vaggumon]

When I was younger I attended the California and Tennessee School for the Blind. We had several of these on hand.

[@5roundsrapid263]

It’s a small world, I suppose. I pass the TN School for the Blind every day when I go to work.

[@cliffordcrimson7124]

@@5roundsrapid263 I go by at least twice a week on my way to my grandmother's house. Ironically, it's a very pretty campus. We've had family pictures there before.

[@andersdenkend]

Kudos for not picking up all the wind with your mic. Well done.

[@MrDannyDetail]

I wondered if he recorded the audio first, then went outside and filmed himself miming along to it afterwards. Possibly the phone he has in his hand is playing the audio, though equally it could just be acting as his microphone.

[@MrPacman64]

I mean it's easy enough to put on a wind sock and then edit out the rest

[@Techmoan]

Fortunately most of the wind was coming in from the sea behind me. The phone was in my hand to start and stop the camera and check the framing.

[@MrDannyDetail]

@@Techmoan Thank you so much for taking the time to respond to me. Please be reassured that you have an incredably loyal fanbase, and if you need to take a week or two off, or more, then I promise we'll all still support you just the same. I really hope that both of your elderly relatives get well as soon as they possibly can, and if realistically that's unlikely (and I really truly hope it isn't) then I truly hope you and your family have all the love and support you need to get you through. Thank you so much for taking the time to complete a video for us when you had a very strong reason to not be able to. x

[@CAMintmier]

At the end, I was expecting it to say "I'm sorry Dave. I'm afraid I can't do that.", then let the magic smoke out...

[@SydBat]

"Daisy Daisyyyy giiivve meeeeeeeeee yyyyooooouuuuuuurrrrrrrr aaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnnnnssssssssssssssseeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr ddooooooooooooooooooooooooo"

[@buddyclem7328]

@@SydBat "I'm half craaaaazy, all for the loooooove ooof youuuuuuu."

[@drasco61084]

Same hahahaha

[@mondegreen9709]

"This conversation can serve no purpose any longer. Goodbye."

[@Allan_aka_RocKITEman]

_"Good day, gentlemen. This is a prerecorded briefing made prior to your departure and which for security reasons of the highest importance has been known on board during the mission only by your H-A-L 9000 computer. Now that you are in Jupiter's space and the entire crew is revived it can be told to you. Eighteen months ago the first evidence of intelligent life off the Earth was discovered. It was buried 40 feet below the lunar surface near the crater Tycho. Except for a single very powerful radio emission aimed at Jupiter the four-million year old black monolith has remained completely inert. Its origin and purpose still a total mystery."_

[@DRDCC]

Our thoughts are with you. Amazing that you still uploaded a video.

[@NJRoadfan]

The machine sounds like its going senile in its old age! Still, for the 90s, this was cutting edge tech. Looks like it's SPARC powered. The OCR works much better then I would have expected for software of the time period. Back when I did computer repair, I occasionally had to repair a system whose user relied on accessibility features. One machine had a screen reader enabled and it was quite impressive how fast the read back rate was set. It's amazing how other senses compensate for the loss of another.

[@5roundsrapid263]

Even sighted people can listen far faster than they can talk. I often watch KZbin videos at 1.5X.

[@thestomach]

I use an app on my phone in the car, Lisgo, to read news articles that I've saved to Pocket (it plays through the car's stereo). I've got it set to 3x speed, as fast as the app supports. It took a couple of weeks use commuting to work my way up to understanding the top speed. My wife thinks I'm listening to gibberish now, but I wish I could bump it up to 4x and beyond!

[@mialemon6186]

Interestingly, I understood more than I expected. I have hearing loss and I struggle to hear almost everyone. Since I'm used to hearing 30% ish of every sentence, what words I heard at that speed was about the same as normal.

[@AureliusR]

Where did you see a SPARC? All I saw was the Xilinx FPGA and a TMS320 DSP. I guess it would make sense to also have a CPU but I figured those two would be enough.

[@mandolinic]

It's when it starts singing "Daisy Daisy" you know your computer is completely F eye eye dash period dash eye eye semicolon-ed.

[@williamdrabble8781]

Was wondering if anyone else picked up the HAL reference at the end

[@farktard2740]

Hey Mat, long time listener here. I love your videos audio. I love hifi and quality audio. I am legally blind now in my 30's. Luckily I can still make basic shapes out and learnt to type qwerty at a young age on a physical typewriter, but it's the quality of the spoken word that makes a youtube video amazing. Thanks for your great production and attention to detail.

[@theonlybilge]

3:12 in my mind that statement continued with "so he went about creating more of the problem for his solution, spending years blinding people"

[@electropunk42]

Ray Kurzweil is a history making tech pioneer, and brilliant writer about future technology and machine intelligence. Many of his predictions have proven to be quite accurate. I had heard of this invention, but had never actually seen it in operation. Thanks for the demonstration! Your channel has been in my regular viewing rotation for years.

[@FraggleRagaraga]

You’re a good man for taking those responsibilities as a caretaker. Thank you for taking the time to upload! Prayers, good thoughts, and well wishes to everyone impacted.

[@Jayce_Alexander]

You are like that one amazing college professor everyone who goes to college encounters at one point -- the one that teaches a course you thought you'd be completely uninterested in, but their passion ends up pulling you in and get you excited about a topic you previously could never have imagined would ever excite you.

[@ChipGuy]

Giving the circumstances you did an extraordinary job. Especially the missing windnoise at the windy beach is top notch studio quality if not even better.

[@targuscinco]

I dont think its broken. Its actually making a lot of sense. I've been thinking eye eye eye period left parentheses for a few years but until I heard it spoken aloud, I kinda just thought I was crazy. Thank you Matt. No more meds for me any more!

[@mrgw98]

As much as I appreciate you still producing a video, it's totally fine if you take a break for a while. We understand. We'll be here ready to watch new videos when you get back. Family comes first.

[@goldrush80]

maybe this is his way to relax??

[@mrgw98]

@@goldrush80 I didn't think of that. I'm too used to KZbinrs saying how they feel they must put content out even when they don't feel like it or want to out of obligation/guilt or for the sake of the "All Mighty Algorithm".

[@omnesilere]

It's probably substantial income for him by this point. Gotta pay the bills, especially on vacation haha.

[@mrgw98]

@@omnesilere Isn't that what a savings account is for? It's said you are supposed to save for 3 months of no payment.

[@RNE365]

I had the pleasure of talking with Mr. Kurzweil a few years ago after attending one of his talks (The Singularity is Near). His vision of the future prompted me to ask the question, “But don’t you find the future is often disobedient?” To which he replied, “You should trademark that!”

[@Squonk06]

Ray Kurzweil, off the back of his relationship with Stevie Wonder, would also go on to form a company-Kurzweil Music Systems-that made musical keyboards. The K250 was the first such instrument, released in 1984. A lot of what Kurzweil learned while making the optical reader went into the design of and sampling for this instrument. The company actually used the same piano sample (the (in)famous triple-strike piano) for several decades, based on some recordings Kurzweil made in the early 80s. IIRC, it's still available in their newer instruments alongside more recent sampled pianos. The triple-strike is a love-it-or-hate-it kind of sound, hence the "(in)famous" in the parenthesis, but it was nonetheless impressive that it remained relevant for so long. In its initial incarnation in the K250, it was pretty much unbeatable for the time.

[@olik136]

funny name- the German adjective kurzweil(ig) means entertaining

[@vermis8344]

... hence the quotationmarkleftparenthesisinrightparenthesisfamousquotationmark in the parenthesis...

[@bertramspielt]

Thanks for this information!

[@Cooldudewhotellsamazingjokes]

Stevie Wonder and incredible musical talent belong in the same sentence. It is that simple. As for OCR technology, it has now been adapted to scan rare old books to reprint them. It works most of the time. I have bought a few reprints of old books. OCR works good enough. It could be better, but it works.

[@Safetytrousers]

@@sjdpfisvrj He is still alive.

[@matt0laughed]

Talking Xerox Machine: "He decided that the best application of this technillac would be to ID I diel dooley lie-ai-ai-ai, die-ai-ai-ai. Me? Me, I live the eye uhthe way in which I, I, L, U, I, E, you...Eli, I, you've written text by having a computer read it to them aloud." Billy Joel: "I'm moving out."

[@maxine_q]

I think the best part is when it just continues as if nothing happened: ... written text by having a computer read it to them aloud.

[@its_clean]

It was having a heart attack-ack-ack-ack-ack

[@LoneWolf-wp9dn]

E-I-E-I-O !!

[@mrdeathscrn]

The fact that it perfomed so well made the jibberish all the more demonic! Impressive tech all things considered though!

[@EarlySwerver]

I thought the glitches sounded surprisingly organic. I bet some very clever algorithms went into this, rather than the brute force that would be used now.

[@channelwoodgrange]

PMCIAIACCCIIC cards..... How I miss those. **So** versatile...

[@skellious]

I think the idea is you can scan the next page while the previous one is playing

[@MrDannyDetail]

I was just looking in the comments to see if anyone else had said that. That's surely the reason it prompts to 'ready for next page' just before it reads what it has just scanned.

[@gummybread]

A perfectly edited and well put together video. There’s absolutely no loss of quality from being “live on set”, life happens and it’s unavoidable and impressive to work around *Somethings wrong I can feel it* Never mind. This video is an absolute horror show and I will no longer be able to sleep tonight.

[@MagicalAuroraDream]

It's so fun to see retro blind tech covered. I love this video. I remember using one of these machines in school in perhaps the late 90s or more likely the early 2000s. This guy from 92 is before my time, but fun to see! It still amazes me that now I can pretty easily read print by using an app on my phone, or a regular scanner and a bit of software.

[@garethsmyth6593]

As a blind person myself, I used one of those at college many years ago. Back then they were considered good devices but nowadays there are a lot of better and high-quality speech speech synthesiser scammers out there. Today as blind people, we can even get our mobile phones and things to act as scanners and read the text for us. Thank you once again for the great videos you do keep them coming.

[@carlhartwell7978]

lol at the '79 price, it would be cheaper to hire a 'live in' assistant to do that :-)

[@sebastianmitderaxt203]

for that price you could hire Morgan Freeman to read every book to you for a year... But well, it was absolutely cutting edge at the time

[@skellious]

I presume the idea is a large city library might buy one and people would book in to use it?

[@skellious]

@@sebastianmitderaxt203 probably more like a few weeks at most.

[@carlhartwell7978]

@@skellious Yeah, that's what I thought, still had to make the joke though.

[@sebastianmitderaxt203]

@@skellious nah, Morgan Freeman in 79 could not be that expensive :P He only really took ofin the early 80 on stage and in film in 89 with Miss Daisy Oh but yeah, large city libraries would probably buy those for that price, also maybe a big post office?

[@nathanisip]

That gibberish is just the machine gaining sentience and exploring the concept of “I”. And excellently produced piece, especially with your care responsibilities. Wishing your relative a speedy recovery!

[@caviar_dreamz]

I’m sure your relatives appreciate having someone like you to help them out. Hope they get better soon!

[@livefreeprintguns]

Kurzweil doesn't get the credit or recognition he deserves... his synthesizers were revolutionary.

[@crazyrobotlady3391]

Thanks so much for reviewing this machine! I used one back in elementary school. It was so freeing to just grab a book and read anything I wanted versus having to grab The same book which might have been five or six volumes long in braille. Just as a point of reference, Harry Potter, order of the Phoenix is I think 16 volumes long each one about 2 inches thick. It was almost as tall as I was when stacked one on top of the other. The king James Bible is 14 volumes long and about 3 inches thick per book. They are also very heavy because they have a cardboard backing and spine.

[@tankgrrl]

I worked with a blind physicist in the mid-2000s and the speed he ran his screen reader's voice at was literally incomprehensible to me. I was always amazed by that. If I was helping him, he'd sometimes have to take pity on me and tell me what it just said. :)

[@victoriaevelyn3953]

that guy that can comprehend text to speech at that speed is like the doctor reading a book in a second thats mind blowing

[@stevenwarner9156]

My dad uses his laptop screen reader, NVDA (which is a free open source one), at a ridiculous pace, too. Apparently you tune into the sounds over time and just slowly up the speed over a period of weeks in getting used to your chosen voice. If you are pretty cognitively sharp then you can set the speed to several times beyond the average rate most people speak at. Apparently the average human brain can handle around 800 words per minute when listening, as long as concentration is not a problem and graduated training has been done. Still sounds like a speak and spell falling down a staircase to my ears, though.

[@jarthurs]

I worked with these extensively at the RNIB and the we had the older reader (as seen with Stevie Wonder) that was 68000 based, and the newer Reading Edge. Incidentally the keyboard you showed *was* the braille input keyboard, the middle row of six keys being the braille keys. Great to hear these again.

[@andreahardee2331]

I’m visually impaired, and I remember my vision teachers in high school mentioning this. Never really knew what it was, probably became I usually read with a magnifier. It’s crazy all the things they could do, even in the early 90s. Thanks for sharing! 😊

[@mannzj648]

Techmoan, this video is quite alright for not being at home. Thank you for filming by the sea and it not just be a bunch of wind noise. I hope the elderly relative you are caring for is getting along well.

[@FrostyDog9186]

9:25 Haha, most of us turn the punctuation off. I'm legally blind (which means I cannot read regular print) and actually got to use one of these for a while as a teenager back in the mid-90s. I never had one of my own due to the cost, but it would have been a game changer if the price had been low enough. Like with most things Ray Kurzweil does, it was ahead of its time and priced accordingly. Oh, and for the record, I can't read Braille either. I do hope your relatives get well soon, best wishes for them and for you.

[@pepe6666]

thats cool. we're quite fortunate to hear from someone who used one back in the day.

[@WarhammerGeek]

When you said it was expensive I was not expecting THAT expensive.

[@adamgh0]

Put an iPad face down on the scanner running an app that converts speech to text and make it go critical.

[@bobblum5973]

I saw nothing wrong with the presentation, and actually found the change to the seaside location to be rather refreshing! Thank you for caring about your family member, as well as us, your subscribers and viewers.

[@TheRealBobHickman]

The outdoor pieces to camera make this like a Tom Scott video.

[@5roundsrapid263]

My thoughts exactly.

[@boris1986]

Thank you so much! Giving the circumstances, you had all rights (and more!) to just skip the video and just give a small announcement about it. Unfortunately, "thumbs up" and a comment is all I can do to help. Still, I hope everything will be alright and you relatives will get better! Thanks again for all you work you've done in all those years, I think it will live for a very long time!

[@vitaminjuk]

Sorry to hear about your relative - wishing them a speedy and comfortable recovery. Thanks for squeezing in an interesting video! (Though I'm sure everyone would understand if you didn't)

[@PBTophie]

Massive amount of respect to you for this video. If you had instead just released a statement to the community about your situation, I would have respected you immensely. People are more important than almost anything. But you then went the extra two, three, or four miles to make sure we still got a video (which was completely unnecessary), made sure the relative was well-off before you went out to shoot video, and then APOLOGIZED for any inconvenience it might have caused your audience. If we could form a panel of people to pass on goodness and responsibility to younger generations, I would nominate you in a heartbeat. You're a solid bloke, friend.

[@drrenard1277]

Oh memories of this. I am DeafBlind so I've experienced these.

[@zappawench6048]

This made me count my blessings, remembering that there are people in the world who are blind and deaf.

[@AfferbeckBeats]

I've only ever heard of Kurzweil synths/samplers, I didn't know he started out with text to speech for the blind!

[@cpt_nordbart]

Me too actually. Is that the same kurzweil though?

[@kebabgud]

Kurzweil Music Systems was started by Ray Kurzweil and Stevie Wonder in '82 because Stevie Wonder got to know him because of his reading machines

[@Lukewci]

@@cpt_nordbart I don't think it is the same company, but from the same founder, Ray Kurzweil (Techmoan mentioned him), currently working for Google. He had like 3 different companies. This one is from his first one, he sold to Xerox (you can see Xerox on sticker), but he was still connected with Xerox at that time. Sound company was his second.

[@ClayMann]

he's a fascinating character. Plenty of talks from him on KZbin. He has a scarily accurate way of predicting what technology will appear at what time. He's got all these predictions going back decades of when the smartphone would take off and when A.I will take over and kill all humans. You know, just tech stuff.

[@BertGrink]

@@cpt_nordbart Yes, I do believe it's the same man; there's an impressive list of awards and honors in the Wikipedia article about him. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Kurzweil

[@pomonabill220]

Your videos are always top notch! Do not worry about the situation that you had to take care of and the lack of your studio and controlled environment.... the video was excellent! Also, the fact that your shooting location was so different made this video all the more interesting. I hope your relative is doing better. It is great that you were able to take care of them in such short notice. Please don't worry about creating videos for us! Your relatives are MUCH more important!

[@Ssshrugs]

Yet again an amazing Techmoan video about something I didn’t know I was interested in, especially regarding the circumstances. The only thing that could’ve made this better is if you let it read out HAL’s dialog from A Space Odyssey, I feel like it would be perfect for conveying the calm yet menacing tone of the computer. Again, great video as always, I hope your relatives are doing alright Matt!

[@HebaruSan]

All our best to your ailing relatives, may they recover quickly and fully

[@justsomeone89]

Wait... Techmoan is Tom Scott's dad? How did i not notice that earlier?

[@TheMajkla]

There's a drawer full of red T-shirts somewhere

[@ninjago561]

Is this true?

[@YouennF]

@@ninjago561 Obviously not, but it's fun and relevant.

[@TheMajkla]

@@frogz and they have a time machine in their garage

[@Richard-ox6zk]

"things you might not know"

[@christopherglover9380]

Rough edges aside. the narration from the sea side, was a refreshing change of pace. Kudos

[@ComblessMan]

"Dave, my mind is going. I can feel it. I can feel it."

[@firesurfer]

Hal, go to sleep.

[@liamcinq]

Video was spot on, no sound issues on location despite obvious breeze.

[@ralphalder14]

I hope your relative is ok, and welcome to sunny Scarborough, where I have lived for 32 years now.

[@goishikaiganmademou]

I browsed the photos of Scarborough in Google Maps and... could this gravel gradient be the one he is filming on? : www.google.se/maps/place/Scarborough,+UK/@54.2436081,-0.3597616,3a,75y,90t/data=!3m8!1e2!3m6!1sAF1QipPKVxaWM0r7zRMxyiYgpcK1GR2NGOBd-xFFivDu!2e10!3e12!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipPKVxaWM0r7zRMxyiYgpcK1GR2NGOBd-xFFivDu%3Dw284-h100-k-no!7i6741!8i2373!4m13!1m7!3m6!1s0x487f254b19e38abb:0x69546c0179a47ac7!2sScarborough,+UK!3b1!8m2!3d54.283113!4d-0.399752!3m4!1s0x487f254b19e38abb:0x69546c0179a47ac7!8m2!3d54.283113!4d-0.399752

[@patrickwigmore3462]

@@goishikaiganmademou My guess is that he was stood here: www.google.co.uk/maps/place/54%C2%B015'38.9%22N+0%C2%B022'34.4%22W/@54.2608056,-0.3769134,213m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m6!3m5!1s0x0:0x0!7e2!8m2!3d54.2608088!4d-0.3762282 (What's the prize if we guess correctly? I wasn't paying attention to that part.)

[@robcemento9605]

Great work Mon! Hope your relative gets better! Sending prayers!

[@stepheneyles2198]

Having moved back to the UK to care for my elderly parents a few years back, I can understand the situation you're in. Not easy, and I hope that they will be alright in the shortest time. Thanks for introducing yet another technological gem; it's amazing what was out there all those years ago! :-)

[@Safetytrousers]

They'll be dead sooner or later.

[@MrDannyDetail]

@@Safetytrousers I'm sorry but that is so cold and uncaring. Matt is clearly going through a vey difficult time at the moment, but has still gone significantly out of his way to ensure his planned upload went ahead this week, and I believe that is worth applauding him for and supporting for.

[@Safetytrousers]

@@MrDannyDetail I didn't suggest Matt should not be lauded. We all will die, and the older you are the closer it is, and being in hospitalising ill health when very old makes it more likely.

[@garethblake3941]

Yet another excellent and informative video especially under the circumstances. Wish your relative a speedy recovery, keep up the good work and stay safe.

[@jamesjross]

This is like Saturday morning cartoons for me. No matter the subject, I just love these. Thanks for the content.

[@BenTheMotionist]

It's true bliss, isn't it.

[@electronicengineer]

@@BenTheMotionist It certainly is!

[@firstnameiii7270]

what if it’s not saturday ?

[@jamesjross]

@@firstnameiii7270 Its not about the day you watch the video. The "Saturday" refers to the day of the week the nostalgic programmes of my youth aired. I assume you know this and were being pedantic, but for arguments sake, lets assume you're a moron. So then.. Say It Monday when I see the video. Its still like Saturday morning cartoons for me. Because Saturday morning was when childrens cartoons were shown on Television and was something I looked forward to all week... like Techmoan videos. So the comparison still holds true no matter what day of the week I watch it. To be clear, the day I watch the videos has no bearing on the day the cartoons of my childhood aired. So watching it on a Thursday night would still be like watching Saturday morning cartoons. Is that clear enough of do you need some kind of diagram?

[@RetroFighter0]

Imagine a crossover episode with Techmoan, LGR, 8bit Guy, Modern Classic, This Does Not Compute, Mr Carlson Lab, VWestlife and Technology Connections

[@cornsyruptrucker]

We need a movie with all these guys in it.

[@gustavgnoettgen]

I read a book by Kurzweil and I was very impressed with what he wrote about the past and future development of technology. He also wrote about his own vast work, but I had no idea about this machine and his company. This man is a work beast.

[@89ry89]

Is it just me or does anyone else absolutely love early speech synthesis voices. They may be flat and bland but I think they have a unique personality unlike today’s speech synthesis just trying to sound more and more human.

[@Leahi84]

Really good on you to do that for your relatives. I know so many people who'd do anything they could to get out of it. Really warms the heart.

[@rich_edwards79]

I wish I could set my Google Home to use Dectalk. I finally have the voice controlled house I was promised in the 80s, but I want it to sound like I'm in Hilldale circa 2015 too.

[@BrightSpark]

I'd pay around tree-fiddy to Google for a Dectalk voice.

[@Zerbey]

Hope your relative is feeling better, much respect to you for stepping in.

[@ViewpointProd]

LGR did a fantastic video on the system that this used, DecTalk. I suggest checking it out, it's what was used in BTTF Part 2, Short Circuit, tones of movies

[@robertschnobert9090]

Are you a furry? Awoo!

[@Retropizzapaws]

DECTALK always a classic

[@Trekeyus]

Dectalk is iconic

[@li2uo]

You're a lovely and talented man! Great video and well done for stepping up to the mark!

[@Stherko20]

6:29 sounds just like the end of a medication TV advert in America lol

[@TheMajkla]

Or compensation claims adverts in UK

[@Kaivana]

I was listening to this video at x3 speed like I do most KZbin videos. had to drop it down to 1x speed for that and the computer voice was still hard to understand. I think it was only because of the type of voice the computer voice is and with practice I could get used to it.

[@Fuzy2K]

actualsymptomsamayvaryvoidwhereprohibitedbylawnotforuseinflagstaffarizonaforsomereasonnopurchasenecessarymustbe18oroldertoenter

[@bradscott2432]

I was waiting for it to say terms and conditions apply

[@ZGryphon]

Also reminds me of the glitchy voice lines in _Portal,_ albeit in a male voice. "For your own safety, and the safety of others, please refrain from _porfavorbordóndefallarmuchosgraciasdefallargracias_ - stand back."

[@Phred_Phlintstoner]

Good for you! It takes a certain kind of person to uproot themselves and go take care of someone in need! We need more people like you in this world!

[@draggonhedd]

Remember, PCMCIA stands for: People Cant Memorize Computer Industry Acronyms

[@xXRedyzXx]

I love the full disclosure about everything in your videos, such transparency - best of luck!

[@JrGoonior]

"Back to the Future" reference "Jacket drying" "You're jacket is now dry."

[@xonox_868]

And the Voices of the Robots who were not "Alive" in Short Circut

[@Mister-Gee-9999]

It's "your jacket" not "you're jacket"

[@dgeoffri]

@@xonox_868 your cocktail, Dr. Mariner

[@Kalvinjj]

Back to the Future is to movies what Doom is to games. EVERYTHING must run Doom, and if it plays video, Back to the Future was released on it, if not, make it at least read a reference from it

[@MrVsbt1]

🤣🤣

[@jakehypastepjunglist]

I’m blind and have been adjusting to technology quite well, videos like this I find really interesting as I don’t know if there was any technology available back then. I guess it’s been hard for blind people like myself but I guess with apps today like Microsoft seeing ai and be my eyes it’s been a lot easier I never liked braille to be fair, when I read a book I mainly concentrated on what the words say than the story then when reading audiobooks I can just get into the story so that’s how I look at it.Keep up with the videos I find them really interesting

[@mhoppy6639]

Techmoan. Still the best thing on KZbin by miles. Thank you.

[@polygondwanaland8390]

I clicked this video purely to see if the green light scanned back and forth like a Cylon. It does, I'm incredibly satisfied.

[@Bl4ckD0g]

I really want footage of one of these robotically phrasing the whole of Rap God now.

[@kontan2504]

As usual, your kindness shines in your videos. Hope your relatives will get better soon. And this video was really enjoyable.

[@reefobot]

missed youre chance to channel your inner tom scott in the intro

[@JarrodCoombes]

You could probably do an entire video on Ray Kurzweil alone, the man was prolific in the speech to sound arena and created many products that have helped a ton of people, and that legacy continues even today.

[@Doormanswift]

Stephen Hawking is alive and well in this machine.

[@stgigamovement]

Both Hawking and this machine used DECtalk. So this machine is equivalent to Hawking's voice synthesizer.

[@nissancubesdashboardpubes8026]

@@stgigamovement did they use DECtalk in the film Short Circuit too? I swear the first few opening scenes sound really familiar to this machine. Not just robot familiar but damn near identical

[@stgigamovement]

@@nissancubesdashboardpubes8026 Apparently they did.

[@atmel9077]

I love how it looks and sounds so retrofuturistic!

[@PietroSoft]

When i saw you out there 00:06, the first thing it came to mind was the first episode of Cosmos with Carl Sagan.

[@the5th2000]

Fair play to you for looking after you relative, and for still finding the time to make another great video about interesting tech. Thanks for all the great content!

[@andycristea]

The only "technical problem" i found in the video was the lack of sun on that beautiful shore but that is not up to you :) Best wishes to you and your family and i hope they will be well soon! Thank you for the great content!

[@MagikGimp]

Very sorry to hear about your relative. Wishing them all the best.