WEBVTT - What's the History of Remote Controls? 0:00:01.840 --> 0:00:07.640 Welcome to brainstud a production of iHeartRadio, Hey Brain Stuff 0:00:07.680 --> 0:00:12.200 Lauren vogelbam here. Remote controls are one of the most 0:00:12.320 --> 0:00:16.799 ubiquitous symbols of our modern technologies. Even if you're the 0:00:16.920 --> 0:00:20.880 sort of minimalist who's consolidated your entertainment system's controls to 0:00:20.920 --> 0:00:24.280 a single remote or a set of smartphone apps, you 0:00:24.400 --> 0:00:28.240 might have another dozen or so around your home. We 0:00:28.400 --> 0:00:32.279 control everything from ceiling fans and air conditioners, to car 0:00:32.400 --> 0:00:35.960 door locks and garage or gate openers, to laundry machines 0:00:36.000 --> 0:00:40.920 and lamps via remote. And this isn't a scientific fact, 0:00:40.960 --> 0:00:43.360 but I think chances are decent that we all have 0:00:43.520 --> 0:00:46.320 one or two remotes permanently lost amid an army of 0:00:46.400 --> 0:00:50.680 dust bunnies in our couches. The most ubiquitous use of 0:00:50.680 --> 0:00:54.480 remotes may be for television control, but these devices far 0:00:54.560 --> 0:00:57.920 pre date TV. They're an invention born of the late 0:00:58.000 --> 0:01:03.560 eighteen hundreds. Renowned Serbian American inventor Nikola Tesla created one 0:01:03.560 --> 0:01:06.920 of the world's first wireless remote controls, which he unveiled 0:01:06.920 --> 0:01:09.639 at Madison Square Garden in New York City in nineteen 0:01:09.640 --> 0:01:13.720 eighty nine. He called his Fledgling System, which could be 0:01:13.760 --> 0:01:17.800 used to control a range of mechanical contraptions a tele automaton. 0:01:19.040 --> 0:01:23.200 Before his demonstration, Tesla employed a miniature boat controlled by 0:01:23.280 --> 0:01:26.640 radio waves. The boat had a small metal antenna that 0:01:26.720 --> 0:01:32.280 could receive exactly one radio frequency. Tesla sent signals to 0:01:32.319 --> 0:01:34.800 the boat using a box equipped with a lever and 0:01:35.000 --> 0:01:38.759 a telegraph key, originally designed to send Morse code signals. 0:01:39.800 --> 0:01:43.679 The signals generated from this box shifted electrical contacts aboard 0:01:43.720 --> 0:01:47.280 the boat, which in turn adjusted settings for the rudder 0:01:47.280 --> 0:01:53.040 and propeller, allowing the operator to control the boat's motion. Financially, 0:01:53.200 --> 0:01:57.520 Tesla's remote controlled boats were a flop. His intented client, 0:01:57.680 --> 0:02:01.240 the US Navy, thought the technology was too flimsy for war, 0:02:02.200 --> 0:02:06.680 but the concept of remote control caught on shortly after 0:02:06.720 --> 0:02:11.800 Tesla's breakthroughs. Spanish engineer Leonardo Torres Cavedo used wireless telegraph 0:02:11.840 --> 0:02:15.880 transmitters to control first a tricycle, then an engine powered boat, 0:02:16.120 --> 0:02:20.800 and even submarine torpedoes. The work of these inventors was 0:02:20.800 --> 0:02:24.160 a harbinger of things to come. In World War One, 0:02:24.240 --> 0:02:27.800 the German Navy used remotely controlled boats loaded with explosives 0:02:27.800 --> 0:02:31.600 to attack opposition ships. It was the advent of a 0:02:31.639 --> 0:02:34.760 new type of warfare in which armed forces could direct 0:02:34.840 --> 0:02:39.120 armaments from a distance. During World War II, the German 0:02:39.160 --> 0:02:43.160 and American armed militaries also experimented with and deployed a 0:02:43.280 --> 0:02:48.400 range of guided missiles and torpedoes. Beginning in the nineteen thirties, 0:02:48.560 --> 0:02:52.799 a few consumer electronics incorporated remote controls that operated by 0:02:52.800 --> 0:02:57.720 transmitting radio frequency signals like garage door openers, model airplanes, 0:02:57.840 --> 0:03:02.840 and home radios. The first remote controls for radios were wired, 0:03:03.320 --> 0:03:06.600 but in nineteen thirty nine phil Co at the Philadelphia 0:03:06.680 --> 0:03:10.320 Storage Battery Company, offered some of its high end radios 0:03:10.440 --> 0:03:14.240 with a wireless, battery powered remote, which it called the 0:03:14.320 --> 0:03:19.240 Mystery Control. This remote had a spring loaded dial like 0:03:19.400 --> 0:03:22.919 old fashioned telephones do, with ten stops along the dial, 0:03:23.160 --> 0:03:27.080 corresponding to eight preset radio stations, and then volume up 0:03:27.160 --> 0:03:30.720 and volume down. You'd turn the dial to the stop 0:03:30.760 --> 0:03:34.600 you wanted, save the station that played lots of Ella Fitzgerald, 0:03:35.000 --> 0:03:38.800 and let it go. As the dial rotated back to 0:03:38.840 --> 0:03:42.840 its starting position, Each stop would generate a radio frequency 0:03:42.880 --> 0:03:45.320 pulse that was then received by a device in the 0:03:45.440 --> 0:03:49.720 radio cabinet. Based on the number of pulses it received, 0:03:49.960 --> 0:03:54.480 it would know which station to tune to. These remotes 0:03:54.520 --> 0:03:57.840 made a big splash when they debuted, but there are 0:03:57.920 --> 0:04:01.480 a few issues with radio frequency remote technology that prevented 0:04:01.520 --> 0:04:04.680 it from becoming the main choice for home entertainment systems. 0:04:05.920 --> 0:04:08.040 There are a lot of radio signals flying through the 0:04:08.080 --> 0:04:11.640 air at any given time. These remotes were programmed to 0:04:11.720 --> 0:04:15.480 transmit and receive specific frequencies, but there were also a 0:04:15.560 --> 0:04:19.720 growing number of these remotes. Since radio waves can travel 0:04:19.760 --> 0:04:23.320 through walls and for a decent range, interference grew more 0:04:23.440 --> 0:04:28.080 likely the more people adopted these devices. That may be 0:04:28.320 --> 0:04:32.560 why television manufacturers didn't rush to incorporate them when TVs 0:04:32.600 --> 0:04:37.800 became commercially available after World War Two. Before remotes, TV 0:04:37.920 --> 0:04:40.360 viewers had to plod to their televisions to change the 0:04:40.440 --> 0:04:45.080 channel and volume, using rotating dials or buttons. I being 0:04:45.120 --> 0:04:48.200 an old remember sets like this at my grandparents' houses. 0:04:49.320 --> 0:04:54.640 In nineteen fifty, electronics manufacturer's Zeni introduced the Lazybones remote. 0:04:55.160 --> 0:04:58.440 It was the old wired type with a long, snaking 0:04:58.520 --> 0:05:01.440 cable that turned as many ankles as it did channels. 0:05:02.640 --> 0:05:06.120 A few years later, Zenith engineers devised the flash Maatic 0:05:06.279 --> 0:05:10.000 TV remote, which looked like a small pistol and used 0:05:10.040 --> 0:05:14.760 directional flashes of light to control a television settings, but 0:05:14.920 --> 0:05:18.000 the TV's four photo cells, one in each corner of 0:05:18.040 --> 0:05:21.640 the screen, responded to all sorts of light sources, including 0:05:21.800 --> 0:05:27.600 sunlight and ceiling lights, causing spontaneous channel changes. In nineteen 0:05:27.680 --> 0:05:31.800 fifty six, Zenith created the Space Command control, which employed 0:05:31.880 --> 0:05:37.279 high frequency ultrasonic sound instead of light. This new remote 0:05:37.320 --> 0:05:42.240 didn't even require batteries. Instead, it contained tiny hammers to 0:05:42.279 --> 0:05:46.640 strike one of four aluminum rods, creating different sounds to 0:05:46.680 --> 0:05:50.640 be picked up by the TV's receiver. One rod each 0:05:50.720 --> 0:05:53.880 controlled the on and off power functions and the channel 0:05:54.120 --> 0:05:58.640 up and down functions. There was no volume control. This 0:05:58.800 --> 0:06:01.680 style of remote increased the price of a new TV 0:06:01.760 --> 0:06:04.760 by a third, but that didn't stop people from buying 0:06:04.800 --> 0:06:09.280 them in mass quantities. These remotes became known as clickers 0:06:09.440 --> 0:06:11.840 due to the audible click the hammers made when they 0:06:11.880 --> 0:06:16.640 hit the rods. Their ultrasonic frequencies were inaudible to humans, 0:06:16.920 --> 0:06:19.120 but they drove a lot of dogs a little bonkers. 0:06:20.480 --> 0:06:23.840 The drawback to these devices was that they could be persnickety, 0:06:24.360 --> 0:06:27.760 especially if you weren't holding still when you used them. 0:06:28.279 --> 0:06:31.479 That's because of the Doppler effect, which describes how motion 0:06:31.680 --> 0:06:36.520 can change the pitch of sound waves. Remote controls changed 0:06:36.520 --> 0:06:40.360 the way we interacted with our electronic devices, planting us 0:06:40.480 --> 0:06:44.200 like proverbial potatoes and couches with no risk of outside 0:06:44.200 --> 0:06:47.440 distraction or of getting a few steps in by making 0:06:47.520 --> 0:06:50.640 us get up to change a radio station or TV channel. 0:06:51.760 --> 0:06:54.560 It was a time when channel choices were expanding, and 0:06:54.720 --> 0:06:58.719 because viewers tended to click away during commercials or slow scenes, 0:06:59.120 --> 0:07:02.760 TV programs changed as well, with faster pacing to keep 0:07:02.839 --> 0:07:10.200 people continuously engaged, and remotes themselves kept evolving. Ultrasonic remotes 0:07:10.240 --> 0:07:14.040 remain to these standard for televisions and stereos until nineteen eighty, 0:07:14.400 --> 0:07:17.320 which is when remotes began using the infrared light signals 0:07:17.360 --> 0:07:21.320 that are most common today. Infrared light is a part 0:07:21.360 --> 0:07:24.880 of the electromagnetic spectrum that we can't see, but that 0:07:24.920 --> 0:07:28.280 we experience as heat, in this case, very mild heat. 0:07:28.960 --> 0:07:31.800 Infrared remotes work by using that part of the spectrum 0:07:31.840 --> 0:07:35.640 to transmit signals to a receiver in the electronic device 0:07:35.680 --> 0:07:38.920 in question. The little red light that blinks on the 0:07:38.920 --> 0:07:40.760 remote when you push a button is just so that 0:07:40.800 --> 0:07:44.280 you know it's working. The transmitter in the remote sends 0:07:44.360 --> 0:07:48.920 pulses of infrared light that represent specific binary codes, you know, 0:07:49.000 --> 0:07:53.560 a string of ones and zeros. These binary codes correspond 0:07:53.600 --> 0:07:57.000 to commands and such as power on or volume up. 0:07:57.960 --> 0:08:00.640 The receiver in the device decodes the ul of light 0:08:00.760 --> 0:08:05.840 into their representative binary data. A microprocessor in the device 0:08:05.880 --> 0:08:10.120 can understand this data and carry out the corresponding command. 0:08:10.960 --> 0:08:14.080 Infrared remotes work well enough and are cheap enough to 0:08:14.120 --> 0:08:17.360 make that they've stuck around, but they do have some 0:08:17.480 --> 0:08:20.680 limitations based on the fact that they use light signals. 0:08:21.880 --> 0:08:24.520 They therefore have a range of only about thirty feet 0:08:24.640 --> 0:08:28.680 or ten meters, and they require line of sight, which 0:08:28.720 --> 0:08:30.880 is why you sometimes have trouble with a remote if 0:08:30.880 --> 0:08:34.120 an entertainment system's receiver isn't in the most obvious place, 0:08:34.760 --> 0:08:37.480 say it's far to one side instead of right near 0:08:37.559 --> 0:08:42.040 the TV screen. Pretty quickly, by the mid nineteen eighties, 0:08:42.360 --> 0:08:45.680 infrared remotes became so common for so many different home 0:08:45.760 --> 0:08:50.679 entertainment devices that electronics companies started producing universal remotes that 0:08:50.720 --> 0:08:54.800 could work with or be programmed specifically for controlling many 0:08:54.840 --> 0:09:01.320 different devices. Think not just televisions and stereos, so cable boxes, 0:09:01.640 --> 0:09:05.280 VCRs or betamax maybe a separate CD player if your 0:09:05.280 --> 0:09:11.240 old stereo didn't come with one, then LaserDisc, satellite television, DVRs, DVDs, 0:09:11.520 --> 0:09:16.800 blu ray, and now streaming service boxes. Remote overload is real, 0:09:18.080 --> 0:09:22.839 and radio frequency remotes never died out, They just specialized. 0:09:24.040 --> 0:09:27.040 These days, radio frequency remotes are used for things that 0:09:27.080 --> 0:09:30.040 benefit from their greater range up to one hundred feet 0:09:30.080 --> 0:09:34.720 or thirty meters, like garage door openers, carfobs, and ceiling fans. 0:09:36.080 --> 0:09:39.880 Modern radio frequency remotes transmit radio waves that correspond to 0:09:39.960 --> 0:09:43.240 the binary command for the button you're pushing. A radio 0:09:43.320 --> 0:09:47.080 receiver on the controlled device receives a signal and decodes it. 0:09:48.200 --> 0:09:52.680 Of course, way more devices are transmitting radio signals these days, 0:09:52.720 --> 0:09:56.360 cell phones, Wi Fi setups, and Bluetooth devices like wireless 0:09:56.360 --> 0:10:01.520 speakers and headphones. Today's radio frequency remotes address the interference 0:10:01.559 --> 0:10:06.400 issue by transmitting at specific radio frequencies and by embedding 0:10:06.440 --> 0:10:10.800 digital address codes in the radio signal. This lets the 0:10:10.920 --> 0:10:14.240 radio receiver on the intended device know when to respond 0:10:14.280 --> 0:10:18.160 to the signal and when to ignore it. Perhaps the 0:10:18.200 --> 0:10:21.960 most universal remote today is a smartphone. With the right 0:10:22.000 --> 0:10:25.120 app and coordinating hardware, you can use your phone to 0:10:25.440 --> 0:10:28.240 unlock a car door, turn household lights on and off 0:10:28.240 --> 0:10:31.840 while you're on vacation, and of course, change channels and 0:10:31.960 --> 0:10:35.720 a lot more on your television, all of which is 0:10:35.800 --> 0:10:40.840 extremely useful. But radio technology has very grand applications as well. 0:10:42.160 --> 0:10:46.120 For example, NASA has relied on radio frequency remote control 0:10:46.200 --> 0:10:50.360 systems to send commands to its MARS rovers, including some 0:10:50.520 --> 0:10:55.199 complex compensation for the Doppler effect. As we continue to 0:10:55.280 --> 0:10:58.760 weave new technologies into our lives, it's likely that we'll 0:10:58.800 --> 0:11:02.680 still need remotes in whatever format to help keep things 0:11:02.880 --> 0:11:10.400 under control. Today's episode is based on the articles what 0:11:10.480 --> 0:11:12.760 is the History of the Remote Control written by Nathan 0:11:12.840 --> 0:11:16.040 Chandler and How Remote Controls Work? Written by Julia Layton 0:11:16.200 --> 0:11:19.559 on HowStuffWorks dot com. Brain Stuff is production of iHeartRadio 0:11:19.679 --> 0:11:22.240 in partnership with HowStuffWorks dot Com and is produced by 0:11:22.240 --> 0:11:25.720 Tyler Klang. For more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit 0:11:25.760 --> 0:11:28.880 the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to 0:11:28.920 --> 0:11:29.840 your favorite shows.