TV Remote Controller

• First Mention: 1989
• Use: To change the channels and control any other tuned in devices around the house.

The first recorded mention of a remote control was believed to be provided by Nicolas Tesla in his patent, U.S. Patent 613.809, called,Method of an Apparatus for Controlling Mechanism of Moving Vehicle or Vehicles. This by no means sounds like it could be used to change the channels in your favorite television set. After all the first TV was commercially available in the late 1920s, where Tesla’s patent was submitted in 1898. He later followed up his patent by showing a live demonstration at Madison Square Garden of a radio controlled boat during an electronics expo. The name given to the boat was “telautomation.”

Such an ability to control a vehicle from a given distance flirted with numerous agencies, specifically the military for obvious reasons. Having a soldier safe in a bunker or operations base control an armed vehicle in the middle of a warzone would give the upper hand to any military power at the time. Especially since machines could be easily fixed, while people could not be.

German motor boats were operated by remote controls to ram into opposition forces during World War I. World War II saw the use of remote controlled bombs and other such devices. Even today, we see the emergence of Unmanned Arial Vehicles (UAVs) which provide tactical surveillance and precision strikes in military zones too dangerous for manned vehicles or operations. Obviously the remote controls used today are nowhere near as simple and primitive as those first proposed by Tesla, but the principle is in essence the same. An electromagnetic signal is emitted from a control panel, transmitting the input commands to the device which is tuned in to that specific frequency. The device then decodes the signal and proceeds to execute the commands.

It was not until the 1950s that the Zenith Electronics Corporations saw a use for the remote control which would become its most widely accepted utility today. The first commercial remote control, the “Lazy Bones,” was connected to the television set via cable, which in a sense does not make it a true remote control(although I am sure they never had the problem of losing the remote). After complaints that people constantly tripped over the unruly cable, Zenith Co. went back to the drawing boards and came back with the “Flashmatic.”

The “Flashmatic” was nothing more than a flashlight in some respects, with four sensors that interpreted different blink patterns. The remote utilized four photo cells on each corner of the TV cabinet. Think of the Wii controller with the sensor bar that needs to be placed on top of the Television set, or else the pointer becomes very spastic, except imagine four sensor bars instead of one. Again by no means was this the remote control we all love to lose, especially if there was direct sunlight shining into the photo cells.

Another interesting attempt came with the ultrasonic “Space Command” remote, which relied on emitted sounds higher than the human hearing threshold. The tuned in television sets could interpret these sounds and properly respond. The benefit of controlling the Space Command came with an average added cost of 30 percent of the original price of the TV mainly because of the complicated adapters placed on the TV.

It was not until the 1980s that the switch was made to infrared for remote controls which are still the predominant standard in television control. The infrared system works similar to the ultrasound – utilizing a spectrum which is undetectable to the human senses. IR Controllers emit a beam of infrared light which is not seen by the human eye but picked up by the TV sensor.

Today though, new standards are emerging such as BlueTooth technology which are seeing their benefits in crafting the universal remote. Regardless of the standard, as long as there is a TV set out there, you will surely find an accompanying remote control, eager to escape into the confines of your couch or underneath the bed, so that it may avoid the constant abuse and nagging we exert on it during the day. These tools which originally started out as a way to win wars and minimize friendly casualties, and which continue to do so today, have found their ways into your living room, bedroom, and even bathrooms for some. They ease our lives, and in many regards stay true to the name of their first model, “The Lazy Bones.”

Who knew the remote you are probably about to grab after reading this blog had its origins in tactical military warfare?