Professor Faber’s “talking machine,” operated by a piano-like keyboard, generated humanoid speech through a rather unsettling bodiless mask that stared eerily ahead. Still, the machine sold a lot of ...

Just imagine the soothing voice of your o clock radio, coaxing you out of sleep. The time is 3 46 AM. The date is 7 22 dragging yourself out of bed. You call directory assistance for the number to ...

If you purchase something from the links on this page, we may earn a commission. A reporter in 1985 explored what “talking machines” might look like in the future. Many of the predictions were eerily ...