A man with the inability to speak made history in 1974 by ordering a pizza over the phone using a voice synthesizer.
The call took place at Michigan State University's Artificial Language Laboratory on December 4, 1974. Donald Sherman, who has Moebius Syndrome Syndrome had never before been able to order pizza by phone, used a Votrax voice synthesizer system designed by researchers John Eulenberg and J.J. Jackson. The moment was captured by local news media, as a crowd of excited, scruffy computer scientists witnessed the historic event.
The call wasn't smooth sailing. The computerized voice, while remarkable for the time, was primitive compared to today's synthesized voices and utterly alien to most people. Domino's hung up on the synthetic voice. Three calls later, a sympathetic employee at Mr. Mike's pizzeria finally took the order.
The transcript reveals the patience of both parties as they navigated this novel interaction. When asked about delivery or pickup, Sherman had to request, "Would you please phrase that question so that I can answer it with 'Yes' or 'No'?"
The successful pizza delivery is celebrated each year at MSU, with Domino's Pizza providing free pizzas for commemoration events (I guess they felt guilty about hanging up on Sherman).
As seen in the video, local news reporter Maxine Parshall wrapped up the segment by saying, "It may not be very long before we'll all be able to use computers to communicate."
Previously:
• Domino's pizza receipt leads police to 12-year-old boy, arrested for murder
• The world's best pizza place is selling cans of water for $30
• Man orders a pizza using a talking computer (1974)
