Robert Adler was a physicist and inventor who contributed to the development of television technology and is best known for inventing the wireless TV remote control.
Early Life and Education
Robert Adler was born in Vienna, Austria on December 4, 1913. He showed an early aptitude for physics, nature, books, and classical music. He earned his doctorate in physics from the University of Vienna in 1937 at the age of 24. Shortly after, he immigrated to the United States and joined the research laboratory of the Zenith Electronics Corporation in west Chicago.
World War II and Electronics Development
During World War II, Adler worked on military communications devices, including high-frequency oscillators and electromechanical filters for aircraft radios.
Post-War Innovations and Impact on Television
After the war, Adler focused his research on television technology. One of his early inventions was the gated-beam vacuum tube, which effectively eliminated audio noise in television receivers and reduced operating costs. He and his colleagues also developed a special synchronizing circuit that improved reception on the fringe of a television station's broadcast area. However, his greatest success was the development of the wireless remote control.
The Genesis of the TV Remote Control
The desire to control machines from a distance had been around for centuries. In the late 1800s, inventor Nikola Tesla patented a version of the remote control that he claimed could steer a ship from shore.
In the early 1950s, Eugene F. McDonald Jr., the founder of Zenith Electronics, believed that television viewers desired a way to skip annoying commercials by changing channels, muting the sound, or both.
Robert Adler invented the ultrasonic Space Command TV remote control in 1956, which was sold with nine million television sets before infrared technology took over in the early 1980s.
Development and Evolution of the TV Remote Control
Zenith's first attempt at a TV remote, prompted by McDonald Jr.'s insight, was the "Lazy Bones" remote. It could turn the TV on and off and change channels without the viewer having to get up. However, it was cumbersome as it was connected to the TV by a cord, creating a tripping hazard for elderly users.
In 1955, Zenith introduced the "Flashmatic," a wireless device that was essentially a flashlight that shone a beam of light at photo sensors located in the corners of the TV cabinet. These sensors, however, were also sensitive to sunlight.
Although the Flashmatic solved the cord problem of the Lazy Bones, it created a new issue: sunlight could cause the TV to operate erratically.
McDonald Jr. called an emergency meeting of engineers at Zenith to resolve the problem. Radio waves were considered but rejected because they could penetrate walls and change channels on neighbors' TVs.
Adler's solution was to have the remote "talk" to the TV using sound instead of light – specifically, ultrasonic sound that was above the range of human hearing. Adler's remote was elegantly simple. It did not even require batteries. Its buttons activated a small hammer that struck one of four aluminum rods inside the device, similar to piano keys striking strings. A receiver in the TV interpreted these high-pitched sounds as commands to increase volume, decrease volume, mute the sound, or turn the set on or off.
In an interview with the Archive of American Television in 2004, Adler recalled that the solution for the remote came to him after visiting a steel mill and hearing the high-pitched sound made as metal bars banged against a hard object. He returned to his lab with the idea of using ultrasonic sound, which is beyond human hearing, to signal the receiver in the TV set.
Adler's ultrasonic Space Command TV remote control initially added about 30% to the cost of a set, making it somewhat expensive for consumers. However, its convenience and usefulness quickly made it popular.
Later Career and Legacy
In the 1960s, Adler refined his system to generate the ultrasonic signals using electronic circuits. Over the next two decades, ultrasonic remotes became the standard accessory for televisions. Zenith and other manufacturers sold a total of over nine million TVs with ultrasonic remotes before infrared technology took over in the early 1980s.
Remote controls are now ubiquitous in consumer electronics and home entertainment. The vast majority of electronic devices, including TVs, DVD players, air conditioners, and fans, come with remote controls.
For his contributions, Adler has been dubbed the "Father of the TV Remote Control," a seemingly simple device that has transformed and enhanced our experience of watching programs on our screens.
"But if you had asked him, Adler would not have picked the remote control as his favorite invention," Adler's wife, Ingrid, told the Los Angeles Times in 2007. "In fact, he didn't spend much time watching TV. He preferred reading."
"My husband would often wake up in the middle of the night with a dream, and he would say, 'I just solved a problem.' He was always thinking about science," Ingrid said.
In 1963, Adler became vice president and director of research at Zenith Electronics. He served as the company's technical adviser until 1997.
Adler died of heart failure in a Boise, Idaho, nursing home on February 15, 2007, at the age of 93. During his career, he held 180 patents and received numerous awards, including the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Edison Medal in 1980. He was also a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).