TV remote controller inventor switches off

No he wasn't found down the back of the sofa

18 February 2007 17:33 GMT / By Stuart Miles

Dr. Robert Adler Co-inventor of the wireless remote control for television over 50 years ago and probably the man responsible for creating a nation of couch potatoes has died at 93.

Dr. Adler's "Space Command" ultrasonic remote control for TV sets was introduced by Zenith in 1956 as the ultimate solution to changing the channels without the viewer having to get up.

For his efforts, he received numerous awards including the 1958 Outstanding Technical Achievement Award of the Institute of Radio Engineers (now the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers or IEEE) for his "original work on ultrasonic remote controls" for television.

A prolific inventor with a seemingly never-ending thirst for knowledge, his pioneering developments spanned from the Golden Age of Television into the High-Definition Era, earning him more than 180 US patents.

The US Patent and Trademark Office published his most recent patent application, for advances in touch-screen technology, on February 1.

Dr. Adler died of heart failure on February 15 in Boise, Idaho. A memorial service is being planned for the Chicago area this spring. He is survived by his wife Ingrid (nee Koch) Adler.

Full tags

Home Cinema, Remote controls