The Bainegramorator

The Bainegramorator

Alexander Bain

1917

Developed by Alexander Bain in late 1800's, the Bainegramorator was indeed a remarkable invention for its time. This power generated mechanical device used coded punch cards, on which the operator could record a voice message which was then sent and decoded using the Bainegramorator.
The Bainegramorator was deployed by the United States Army Signal Corps as a means to deliver messages to the front line in 1917 to counter communication problems. This was however short lived due to the rapid technological advancements in communication which still continues to this day.


Archive footage recovered by the Museum Of Lost Interactions Team




Fact or Fiction?

So some of you might not already know but the Bainegramorator didn't actually exist, this was my 3rd year design project as part of our Museum Of Lost Interactions exhibition.
After researching old audio technology and settling on WW1 as my chosen era.
I developed my main idea based on an old Field phone from a museum in Hemel Hempstead.

I based the technology story on the way gramophones pick up vibrations by running a stylus across the bumps on the surface of the record. My plan was to reproduce the idea of a stylus running across holes in my punch cards.


The finished artifact at the Museum Of Lost Interactions opening night:

























































On set filming archive footage:

























How it really works?

Now the device may look like an antique communication device from the early 19th century but really its a shell made of scavenged parts filled with modern technology.

Check out the video below to find out how it all works:



I used a arduino, an mp3 trigger, LEDs, LDRS, a speaker and a old wind up torch to run my device.












By using light and light sensors I enabled the device to pick up different punch cards depending on the light intensity that the LDRs picked up through each punch card and a small button to sense when a card was placed inside.



















It was such an enjoyable project being able to get so absorbed in my historical research that I start to get in the mind set of an inventor from that time and the chance to make our project so believable that it was not only convincing but also brought about some really interesting discussions on how we use technology today.