The Ear Phonautograph
As Alexander Graham Bell worked towards the invention of the telephone, he honed his acoustic skills on a number of projects. One of them was the extraordinarily creepy Ear Phonautograph.
Bell built an ear phonautograph in 1874 following a suggestion from Clarence Blake. It consisted of the bones of an actual human ear, mounted on a wooden frame. When one spoke into it, the bones vibrated; a bristle brush descending from the bones traced the shape of the sound waves on a piece of smoked glass, which could be rolled back and forth underneath.
Yeah, he tore the ear from a dead body and stapled up to his ghoulish contraption. Why, I ask, don’t all phones use this technology today? Can you imagine talking into a headset consisting of a disembodied ear and a pair of flapping lips?
Here’s a picture of Bell’s device:
The past is gross.