VOA常速英语2014--家庭机器人是下一个新事物吗?

Family Robots – The Next Big Thing?

WASHINGTON—

Robots that can help us with daily chores like cooking and cleaning are a long way off, but automatons 1 that serve as family companions may be much closer. Researchers in the United States, France, Japan and other countries are racing 2 to build robots that can entertain and perform some simpler tasks for us.

Several years after it was introduced to the world, the advanced Japanese humanoid robot Asimo is still serving only as a demonstration 3 and experimentation 4 platform. Even if available for purchase, it would be too expensive for ordinary families.

尖端的日本类人机器人阿西莫面世7年后仍处于展示和实验平台的阶段，即使能上市，但对普通家庭来说仍太贵。

It is much easier and cheaper to build a robot like Jibo, which uses simple movements and has the ability to interact with people through sound, pictures and touch.

制作Jibo这样的机器人变得更简单和便宜，Jibo使用简单的动作，能用声音、图片和触摸与人进行交流。

Massachusetts Institute of Technology researcher Cynthia Breazeal created Jibo initially 5 as a platform for exploring how people communicate with technology.

马萨诸塞科技研究所的研究员辛西娅·布雷齐尔制造Jibo最初的目的是探索人类如何和科技进行沟通。

“Jibo as a robot is something that can move, with cameras that can move and see you and interact with you like a living thing, so to speak. It can bring content to life off the screen in an entirely 6 new way,” explained Brezeal.

“Jibo这样的机器人可以运动，上面的摄像头可以移动，能看到你，像个活物一样和你交流，能以全新的方式给屏幕外的生活带来内容。”

Jibo can remind you about appointments, take photos, entertain people and tell stories to children.

Jibo可以提醒你各种安排、拍照、供人娱乐并给孩子讲故事。

Breazeal said it also incorporates touch-sensitive technology.

布雷齐尔说Jibo还融合了触觉敏感技术。

“People often communicate through touch, so they might pat Jibo if it does something that they like and Jibo can actually learn from that,” said Breazeal.

“人们通常通过触摸来交流，所以如果Jibo做些人喜欢的事就会拍拍它，Jibo能明白这个的。”

Therapists at Amici di Nico Autism Center, in Lecce, Italy, use a small talking robot to treat autistic children.

意大利莱切埃米希迪尼克自闭症中心的理疗专家使用一台小的讲话机器人来治疗自闭儿童。

11-year old Marco has shown great improvement in focusing and communication since he started playing with the robot that carefully keeps track of the child's behavior, said engineer Giuseppe Palestra.

11岁的马克自从和这台机器人玩耍以来，其关注力和沟通能力有了很大提高，这台机器人能追踪孩子的行为，工程师Giuseppe Palestra如是说。

"We would like to be one step ahead of state of the art, so that we can make the human-robot interaction better, and let's say 'humanize' the interaction between the robot and the child," said Palestra.

“我们希望能再进一步实现最先进技术，这样就能进一步改良类人机器人的互动能力，让机器人和孩子之间的互动更人性化。”

Researchers say they want to develop robots that can be programmed for individual patients, because each child reacts differently to outside stimuli 7.

研究者说他们希望开发专门为单个的患者设计的机器人，因为每个孩子对外界刺激的反应都不一样。

French researcher Pierre Lebeau’s family robot Keecker was designed as an entertainment platform that can follow its owner around.

法国研究者利比的家庭机器人Keecker的设计初衷是能让它作为娱乐平台并跟踪周围的主人。

“I came up with the idea of a computer with a projector 8 inside and a great sound system and a camera, something that can move and go to any room to give me a kind of TV-like experience, but anywhere I want without the cables and the complexity,” said Lebeau.

“我想到设计有内部投影仪、大的声音系统和摄像头的电脑，希望它能移动，到任何房间里去给我看电视那样的体验，但我不希望用电缆，不希望太复杂。”

Researchers say robots intended for entertainment may soon be on the market with prices ranging from about $500 to $5,000 - still expensive for ordinary buyers. Therapeutic 9 robots are still in the experimental phase but they too point to what we can expect from artificial intelligence in the near future.

研究者称用于娱乐的机器人将很快面市，价格在500美元到5000美元不等，这对普通消费者来说仍太贵。理疗机器人仍在研发阶段，但我们将在不远的未来能期待看到人工智能。