Flash-Matic: See The World's First Wireless Remote Control, Invented By Eugene Polley (PICTURE)

Before the Remote app for the iPhone and the many-buttoned universal remote, there was Eugene Polley's Flash-Matic, the world's very first wireless remote control.

An engineer for electronics company Zenith, Polley passed away on May 20 at the age of 96. His Flash-Matic invention dates all the way back to 1955.

Take a look at the revolutionary device:

As its ad shows (view below), this huge technological development was all thanks to a "beam of magic light," which enabled remote users to change channels and turn TV sets on or off without having to move from their sofas. Bloomberg explains further that the "magic" beam of light projected from the Flash-Matic connected to four photo cells located in the corners of the TV's screen, allowing users to change channels, adjust the volume and turn the picture on or off.

LOOK:

According to About.com, Zenith had released the Lazy Bone remote control five years prior to the Flash-Matic in 1950. While the earlier remote could turn sets on or off and change channels, it was inconveniently connected to the TV with a cable. "It turned out that consumers did not like the cable because it caused frequent tripping," writes About.com.

What do you appreciate most about the remote control? Share your thoughts with us in the comments!

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Comments

[NoSillyName]

03:42 PM on 05/24/2012

Polley's device CREATED "Couch Potatoes", it didn't change their lives.

[David Jarmula]

02:05 PM on 05/24/2012

um why do we keep forgetting Tesla?? He invented this technology.

[Bartolo27]

11:47 AM on 05/23/2012

It's also a great hairdryer!

[DG3]

11:48 PM on 05/22/2012

In honor of him, his body will be buried under the sofa cushions.

[lshifler]

07:34 PM on 05/22/2012

My grandmother had one of the first remote control RCA TV's, circa 1959 or so. It was battery power, no cable, and it made a hideous clicking noise.

[NoSillyName]

03:44 PM on 05/24/2012

Back then, my uncle always had the newest technology: color television, remote control.

Didn't know of anyone else who had either for many years after.

[neolow]

06:51 PM on 05/22/2012

Cool ray gun!

[ignacio sanabria]

06:05 PM on 05/22/2012

We couch potatoes love it. By the time we get up from our couches, we will not fit in out clothes. This is great!

[Rhancheck]

06:45 PM on 05/22/2012

We who work long shifts of manual labor jobs love it also, Once we kick off our work boots its a nice companion for the brew in the other hand ; )

[Johnangry]

04:32 PM on 05/22/2012

He created vast wealth among the nation's doctors. Many would-be healthy people became couch potatoes at early ages -- creating massive deposits of stored fat.

Think of it this way, he assisted doctors to have diabetics, hypertensives, general obesity members, cardiac patients, and a world of other spandex wearers.

He may even have been the incentive behind the SUV.

[WishfulThinkingRulesAll]

06:06 PM on 05/22/2012

Yes, because people get SO MUCH exercise flipping between channels.

[ydrittmann]

06:17 PM on 05/22/2012

The interruption of getting out of your chair would often get you to walk out of the room and do something else.

[Rhancheck]

06:48 PM on 05/22/2012

never seen the size of a 50's station wagon then?

[Johnangry]

09:41 PM on 05/22/2012

People had more kids then. But they didn't have 10 gallon guts.

[Guy Incognito]

04:02 PM on 05/22/2012

If there's any justice in this world, he'll be buried with a remote stuck between the cushions in his coffin!

[AAHewetson]

03:46 PM on 05/22/2012

I look forward to the day when all of our rotund bodies are floated about on hover chairs and little robots tend to our every desire. Hopefully, some of the robots will be capable of performing cardiac valve replacements and coronary artery repairs.

Almost like something from a movie.

I have started physically changing the channel and volume on my television. I don't think that it is having any impact on my weight but it is certainly having a positive impact on my knee joints.

[Johnangry]

04:33 PM on 05/22/2012

You don't get out much, that time is now.

[AAHewetson]

04:43 PM on 05/22/2012

There seems to be a lot of rotundity but where are the hover chairs? Where are they, dammit!

[WishfulThinkingRulesAll]

06:07 PM on 05/22/2012

If getting up to change the channel is giving you noticeable physical improvements, you have serious *serious* issues, which need to be addressed pronto. Go see a doctor, a nutritionist and a physical therapist or trainer.

[AAHewetson]

09:25 AM on 05/23/2012

I also get up to alter the volume every time a commercial comes on. Obviously, this kind of activity isn't going to have any impact on my aerobic health but getting up and moving to and fro every 5-6 minutes for two hours can have an impact on joint health and, believe it or not, on core strength. The regular, low impact stretching of tendons and ligaments is actually very good for ankles, knees, and hips.

A lot of research is being done on this topic now vis-a-vis the impact of simply getting up and moving about a little on the overall health of generally sedentary office workers. Studies have found measurable improvement in joint flexibility and core strength just from having folk stand up and walk back and forth the length of an office every fifteen minutes.

Thanks for your concern though ... and I am treating it as genuine concern. I teach anatomy and have worked with several physicians and nutritionists on my current weight loss and rehabilitation (from knee and back injuries) strategy. One of my physicians was the fellow who suggested that I stop using my remote.

[Afterschool Carl]

03:32 PM on 05/22/2012

My dad used the Get-Up-And-Change-to-Channel-Five-Before-I-Beat-Your-Ass-Matic[tm].

[nevaehs mama]

04:46 PM on 05/22/2012

Mine too! what a coincidence!

[rudy in la]

03:16 PM on 05/22/2012

He'll be blamed for the obesity epidemic in one of these articles any day now. For me, well I consider him brilliant.

[KiltsAreHot]

02:46 PM on 05/22/2012

Back in the days before remotes came with every TV, guess who was the remote control?

Dad to me: "Turn in to channel 5. Okay...wait. No, don't want to watch that. Put it on Channel 36. Nope. I saw this episode of Andy Griffith the other night. Just go through one by one until I see something that looks good."

And once I found something "good," it was "Can you turn it up a little?"

[gixxerman]

03:20 PM on 05/22/2012

I told my kids the exact same thing. It was worse when I called from outside in the middle of a game to change the channel or adjust the antenna.

[Litho-stone]

03:29 PM on 05/22/2012

I was also the remote control. I also was the channel tuner, because if we wanted to watch certain channels someone would have to go out and turn the antenna! Great fun in the winter..