Raymond Kurzweil Introduces the First Print-to-Speech Reading Machine

In 1976 Raymond Kurzweil introduced the Kurzweil Reading Machine, the first practical application of OCR technology. The Kurzweil Reading Machine combined omni-font OCR, a flat-bed scanner, and text-to-speech synthesis to create the first print-to-speech reading machine for the blind. It was the first computer to transform random text into computer-spoken words, enabling blind and visually impaired people to read any printed materials.