Acoustic modem

SRI scientists made vast improvements to the acoustically coupled modem, which had been invented elsewhere in the early 1960s. SRI’s improvements included a receiver that could detect bits of data amid the “hiss” heard over long-distance telephone connections.

In 1966, SRI patented two acoustical couplers that gave the deaf a way to communicate. The modems also allowed for the first broad-area computer network connections.