时间:2018-12-16 作者:英语课 分类:VOA标准英语2013年(二月)


英语课

 



Future Smart Devices Will Extend Our Senses


Imagine shopping for clothes online and being able to run your hand across the screen on your computer or smartphone to feel the fabrics 2. That kind of simulation technology could be available within the next five years.


“We’re talking about reinventing the way computers operate and you interact with them as humans,” says IBM Vice 1 President Bernie Meyerson.


Extending our sense of touch is one of five innovatons IBM believes will change the world in the next five years, according to the company's annual "Five in Five" list.


Smart machines will also soon be able to listen to the environment and highlight the sounds we care about most. For instance, an advanced speech recognition system will tell new parents why their baby is crying.


“Your child is hungry, versus 3 ill, versus lonely," Meyerson says. "This kind of thing is not possible today, but with a sophisticated enough system, it’s actually possible.”


In the near future, personal computers will be able to do more than recognize images and visual data. Their built-in cameras will be able to analyze 4 features such as colors, and understand the meaning of visual media, such as knowing how to sort family photos.


Smart machines will also be able to smell. If you sneeze on your computer or cell phone, tiny sensors 5 embedded 6 in the machine will be able to analyze thousands of molecules 7 in your breath.


“It can give you an alarm and say; ‘Hey, you may not feel sick yet, but you have an infection, you must go see your doctor immediately,’” Meyerson says.


IBM scientists are also developing a system which can experience flavors to be used by chefs to create recipes. It breaks down ingredients to their molecular 8 level and blends them to create the most popular flavors and smells, even as it helps us mind our waistlines.


“It can recommend to you the food you love to taste, but it can also keep track of the caloric limits, whether you have limits on the fat or cholesterol 9 you can eat," Meyerson says. "So it strikes that ideal balance between the best possible taste and the best possible nutritional 10 outcome.”


One of the most impressive things about the IBM list, says Georgetown University computer science professor Mark Maloof, is how powerful these tiny,smart devices are becoming:


"I think one of the surprises in that list is how a lot of very sophisticated computational methods for doing say for example, hearing and vision, have been implemented 11 on these tiny small mobile devices."


Maloof hopes the advances will encourage more students to study science, technology, engineering and math, preparing them to play a role in future innovations.


“It’s going to be exciting to see what young people do with the increased availability of mobile platforms and networking and computing 12 power,” he says.


He believes there’s little doubt advances in computer technology over the next five years will make what now seems like science fiction a part of our everyday lives. 




1 vice
n.坏事;恶习;[pl.]台钳,老虎钳;adj.副的
  • He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
  • They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。
2 fabrics
织物( fabric的名词复数 ); 布; 构造; (建筑物的)结构(如墙、地面、屋顶):质地
  • cotton fabrics and synthetics 棉织物与合成织物
  • The fabrics are merchandised through a network of dealers. 通过经销网点销售纺织品。
3 versus
prep.以…为对手,对;与…相比之下
  • The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
  • The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。
4 analyze
vt.分析,解析 (=analyse)
  • We should analyze the cause and effect of this event.我们应该分析这场事变的因果。
  • The teacher tried to analyze the cause of our failure.老师设法分析我们失败的原因。
5 sensors
n.传感器,灵敏元件( sensor的名词复数 )
  • There were more than 2000 sensors here. 这里装有两千多个灵敏元件。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Significant changes have been noted where sensors were exposed to trichloride. 当传感器暴露在三氯化物中时,有很大变化。 来自辞典例句
6 embedded
a.扎牢的
  • an operation to remove glass that was embedded in his leg 取出扎入他腿部玻璃的手术
  • He has embedded his name in the minds of millions of people. 他的名字铭刻在数百万人民心中。
7 molecules
分子( molecule的名词复数 )
  • The structure of molecules can be seen under an electron microscope. 分子的结构可在电子显微镜下观察到。
  • Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules. 在反应堆里,大分子裂变为小分子。
8 molecular
adj.分子的;克分子的
  • The research will provide direct insight into molecular mechanisms.这项研究将使人能够直接地了解分子的机理。
  • For the pressure to become zero, molecular bombardment must cease.当压强趋近于零时,分子的碰撞就停止了。
9 cholesterol
n.(U)胆固醇
  • There is cholesterol in the cell of body.人体细胞里有胆固醇。
  • They are determining the serum-protein and cholesterol levels.他们正在测定血清蛋白和胆固醇的浓度。
10 nutritional
adj.营养的,滋养的
  • A diet lacking in nutritional value will not keep a person healthy.缺乏营养价值的饮食不能维持人的健康。
  • The labels on food products give a lot of information about their nutritional content.食品上的标签提供很多关于营养成分的信息。
11 implemented
v.实现( implement的过去式和过去分词 );执行;贯彻;使生效
  • This agreement, if not implemented, is a mere scrap of paper. 这个协定如不执行只不过是一纸空文。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • The economy is in danger of collapse unless far-reaching reforms are implemented. 如果不实施影响深远的改革,经济就面临崩溃的危险。 来自辞典例句
12 computing
n.计算
  • to work in computing 从事信息处理
  • Back in the dark ages of computing, in about 1980, they started a software company. 早在计算机尚未普及的时代(约1980年),他们就创办了软件公司。
学英语单词
a favorable reception
Amfostat
anchor connector
atrap
attached type vibrator for concrete
Bakιr
basic assembler
basic equalization
BCY language
belted ammunitions
beta-lactamase
bivouackings
bloody stools
boy-man
cable access
Canterbury northwester
cash accounting method
cetane number booster
checchi
class's
close to you
coasting blockade
comcasts
continuously circulating ropeway
dystrophic calcification
Echo.
ectendotrophy
edge printer
eimeriosis
endocytosing
enrichens
evaza nigripennis
examinest
example ship
feddersen
frosted-glass
general locality
give indication
He plays the piano for his own enjoyment
horse hair broom
hot-well depression
incombined
Injuria non excusat injuriam.
intercorrelations
internal intercostals (or internal intercostal muscle)
james joyces
kapteyn's distribution
kleanthi
lamaist pagoda
lambeake
lateral forced-air cooling
latiumite
Laws of Manu
lunar seismometer
mainairs
mat-ter
Mesnil-St-Blaise
moment of sparking
multilayer adsorption
non-axisymmetrical configuration
nonvehicular
Opalina ranarum
output cascade
overhung-type motor
own a borough
oxyomus masumotoi
philalethists
political scientist
polystichum neolobatum
practicalness
primary shield water system
process mark
protest march
pseudodipteral
Puerto Dolores
pullitt
python regius
quadrangle
ratchet hob
record signal format
referential experience
reserve line
ring the shed
run into the sand s
sand dune area
secondary hyperthyroidism
single fiber electromyography
spent scrub stream
statistic descriminant technique
subregional center
taphonomically
temperature difference driving force
tender one's devoirs to
theatrical exhibition
thermomechanical method
time-stretched
vesico-uterine
vexatious suits
Vondrek smoothing method
Wagner-Jauregg treatment
wilcockson
zaobao