The Toby Churchill SL35/Cherry is an assistive device that allows people without the power of speech to communicate with other people. It features dual displays encouraging face-to-face communication, and some models feature a voice synthesizer. A memory feature allows multiple phrases or speeches to be pre-recorded and replayed multiple times.

After losing the ability to talk, Toby Churchill set out to design a portable communication aid using his engineering skills - creating a typewriter which instead of typing on paper, typed the message on a display, and this was then logically named the Lightwriter. Although having no plans at that time to make more than just for himself but, as he met other people in a similar position, realised that there was a demand for them and started to manufacture them for other people, founding the company Toby Churchill Ltd in 1973. This model dates from the 1990s. Toby Churchill Ltd became known as Abilia from 2017.

Manufacturer: Toby Churchill
Date: 1994

This exhibit has a reference ID of CH34210. Please quote this reference ID in any communication with the Centre for Computing History.