Mirror-Based Replica of 1880 Wireless Telephone Eliminates Smoke Signals
Revised Article:
Sticking It to the Man with Sunbeams: Bell's Pioneering, Yet Forgotten, Photo-Phone
Ever wondered what Alexander Graham Bell thought was his greatest invention? Chances are, most folks would guess the telephone. Not Alex, though. He'd tell you it was the photophone - a fancy name for a wireless telephone that used light, not radio waves, to transmit sound. Bloke named Nick Bild took it upon himself to whip up a working 1880-versionsque replica of the ol' photo-phone, and let me tell ya, it's a sight to behold.
This bad boy may have missed the mark in terms of widespread adoption, but that doesn't mean it ain't worth a closer look. In a nutshell, the photophone's transmitter was just a tube with a mirror on one end, attached to vibrate whenever someone piped up. Sunlight was then focused onto said mirror, with the vibrations encoding the sound data before being beamed across the room. On the receiving end, a bit more tech was needed to decode the light waves back into audio, but we'll spare you the details. Point is, it worked in 1880, and Nick made it work again in 2021.
But, you ask, why on earth didn't this catch on? The biggest issue, of course, was that the photophone relied on sunlight to work. Stormy days, or even just a cloud rolling by, would disrupt the connection. No biggie for your average copper-wire telephone, but a major bummer for the photo-phone. Plus, it had a much shorter range compared to its wired counterpart.
Don't be too hard on Alex, though. The photophone was decades ahead of its time. It predates the widespread use of fiber optics and showcases some of the earliest wireless communication principles that eventually gave birth to the modern smartphone. You've probably heard of Nick Bild before, if you're a regular reader. He's got quite the penchant for resurrecting forgotten tech from the annals of history and sharing it with us common folk. Check out his video on the photo-phone project below.
[Video link]
Note:
- Innovative in wireless and optical communication, limiting factors include dependency on sunlight, short transmission range, and signal interference.
- The photophone used a vibrating mirror at the transmitter and a selenium cell (or a modern photoresistor in replicas) at the receiver to encode and decode sound in light waves.
- Although not commercially viable, the photophone was a significant step towards wireless and optical communication, predating the widespread use of fiber optics and modern wireless technologies.
The photophone, Alexander Graham Bell's often-overlooked invention, marked a pioneering step in wireless and optical communication. Despite its limitations, such as dependency on sunlight, short transmission range, and signal interference, it was a significant predecessor to modern smartphones and fiber optics, showcasing early principles of wireless communication. In 2021, Nick Bild recreated a replica of the photophone, demonstrating its functioning and highlighting its innovative role in history.
