SIGGRAPH Conference 2011

'Haptics' is a brand new sensory¹ technology that's set to make today's electronics even more lifelike and thrilling. From white-knuckle video games to pregnancy² simulators and even techno music - haptics could make all of these things even more realistic.

Our reporter Li Dong has the details.

 
For thrill seekers who long for the rush of a racing³ car without risking their lives, video games now offer the ultimate ride.

At this special exhibit of "Split Second", a cutting-edge arcade⁴ racing car game, drivers feel the same sensations as those professional drivers strapped⁵ in behind the wheel.

As this super car speeds, crashes, swerves⁶ and brakes around the track, the gamer sits in a special seat that simulates real-life sensations.

The technology is known as haptics, and dozens of exhibitors are demonstrating ways that it can be applied⁷ at the annual Special Interest Group on Graphics⁸ and Interactive⁹ Techniques, or SIGGRAPH Conference, in Vancouver.

Ladislav Kavan, is a research scientist at Disney Interactive Studios.

"Split Second is a pretty fun game. It's amazing, all these explosions and stuff. And the haptics just adds another dimension to it. You can actually feel what you're doing. And you can actually feel from both sides what's happening. So the immersion¹⁰, I guess, is one level higher than it would be normally."

If your Xbox games just aren't doing it for you any more, haptics could represent the future of home-console gaming for hardcore gamers.

But haptics can also have practical applications.

One team from Japan has created a way for people who've never been pregnant to experience what it's like to carry a baby for nine months. The device is called Mommy Tummy.

As visitors - including men - try on the ordinary looking apron¹¹, it begins to expand and grow heavier. The apron is laced with haptics that apply pressure on the abdomen¹², creating the sensation of a kicking baby.

During the ninth month of the simulation, the virtual baby is fully¹³ grown, and its average weight is about 3 kilograms and 300 grams, similar to the size and weight of a penguin¹⁴.

As the apron expands and reaches its maximum weight, visitors are encouraged to pick up objects from the ground.

People who have never given birth start to grasp the challenges of pregnancy, gaining a newfound appreciation¹⁵ of what pregnant women have to go through. Scientist Takayuki Kosaka from the Kanagawa Institute of Technology explains:

"This system helps people understand how it feels to be pregnant even if you are a man. Pregnant women experience a lot of difficulties up until the point of birth. However, the feeling of being pregnant is hard for people around them to understand, especially for husbands or friends. That is why we developed this system; in order to allow people around a pregnant woman to understand how difficult it is to be pregnant."

Graduate students from MIT's Media Lab have created a high-tech¹⁶ device known as Recompose. The device is able to present images normally displayed on flat surfaces in 3D.

The technology allows people to manipulate individual pieces of the device by simply moving their hands. The process is astounding¹⁷, but it also has several practical applications. Anthony Devincenzi is a graduate student at MIT's Media Lab who worked on the device.

"Historically, it sort of included us using the surface as a rendering¹⁸ display for topography or geographic¹⁹ rendering. So we'll put a solid surface, a singular surface over the top of it and then render that back down to something very familiar like Google Earth. And then people can sort of explore different parts of the world and see different heights and mountain ranges and different heights and parts of cities. And that's usually a pretty rewarding experience for people who are used to using a flat monitor to look at Google Earth."

Over 156 industry organizations displayed their latest gadgets²⁰ and devices to nearly 16,000 gaming experts, filmmakers, academics and students at this year's SIGGRAPH.

For CRI, I am Li Dong.

1 sensory   

adj.知觉的，感觉的，知觉器官的

参考例句：

• Human powers of sensory discrimination are limited.人类感官分辨能力有限。
• The sensory system may undergo long-term adaptation in alien environments.感觉系统对陌生的环境可能经过长时期才能适应。

2 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。

3 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

4 arcade   

n.拱廊；(一侧或两侧有商店的)通道

参考例句：

• At this time of the morning,the arcade was almost empty.在早晨的这个时候，拱廊街上几乎空无一人。
• In our shopping arcade,you can find different kinds of souvenir.在我们的拱廊市场，你可以发现许多的纪念品。

5 strapped   

adj.用皮带捆住的，用皮带装饰的；身无分文的；缺钱；手头紧v.用皮带捆扎(strap的过去式和过去分词)；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带

参考例句：

• Make sure that the child is strapped tightly into the buggy. 一定要把孩子牢牢地拴在婴儿车上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The soldiers' great coats were strapped on their packs. 战士们的厚大衣扎捆在背包上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 swerves   

n.（使）改变方向，改变目的( swerve的名词复数 )v.（使）改变方向，改变目的( swerve的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The road swerves to the right. 道路向右转弯。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• At the last moment, Nina swerves and slams into a parked car. 在最后关头，尼娜突然转弯，将车猛烈撞入一辆停着的车中。 来自互联网

7 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

8 graphics   

n.制图法，制图学；图形显示

参考例句：

• You've leveraged your graphics experience into the video area.你们把图形设计业务的经验运用到录像业务中去。
• Improved graphics took computer games into a new era.经改进的制图技术将电脑游戏带进了一个新时代。

9 interactive   

adj.相互作用的，互相影响的，（电脑）交互的

参考例句：

• The psychotherapy is carried out in small interactive groups.这种心理治疗是在互动的小组之间进行的。
• This will make videogames more interactive than ever.这将使电子游戏的互动性更胜以往。

10 immersion   

n.沉浸；专心

参考例句：

• The dirt on the bottom of the bath didn't encourage total immersion.浴缸底有污垢，不宜全身浸泡于其中。
• The wood had become swollen from prolonged immersion.因长时间浸泡，木头发胀了。

11 apron   

n.围裙；工作裙

参考例句：

• We were waited on by a pretty girl in a pink apron.招待我们的是一位穿粉红色围裙的漂亮姑娘。
• She stitched a pocket on the new apron.她在新围裙上缝上一只口袋。

12 abdomen   

n.腹，下腹(胸部到腿部的部分)

参考例句：

• How to know to there is ascarid inside abdomen?怎样知道肚子里面有蛔虫？
• He was anxious about an off-and-on pain the abdomen.他因时隐时现的腹痛而焦虑。

13 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

14 penguin   

n.企鹅

参考例句：

• The penguin is a flightless bird.企鹅是一种不会飞的鸟。
• He walked with an awkward gait like a penguin.他走路的步子难看得就像企鹅。

15 appreciation   

n.评价；欣赏；感谢；领会，理解；价格上涨

参考例句：

• I would like to express my appreciation and thanks to you all.我想对你们所有人表达我的感激和谢意。
• I'll be sending them a donation in appreciation of their help.我将送给他们一笔捐款以感谢他们的帮助。

16 high-tech   

adj.高科技的

参考例句：

• The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
• The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。

17 astounding   

adj.使人震惊的vt.使震惊，使大吃一惊astound的现在分词)

参考例句：

• There was an astounding 20% increase in sales. 销售量惊人地增加了20%。
• The Chairman's remarks were so astounding that the audience listened to him with bated breath. 主席说的话令人吃惊，所以听众都屏息听他说。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 rendering   

n.表现，描写

参考例句：

• She gave a splendid rendering of Beethoven's piano sonata.她精彩地演奏了贝多芬的钢琴奏鸣曲。
• His narrative is a super rendering of dialect speech and idiom.他的叙述是方言和土语最成功的运用。

19 geographic   

adj.地理学的，地理的

参考例句：

• The city's success owes much to its geographic position. 这座城市的成功很大程度上归功于它的地理位置。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Environmental problems pay no heed to these geographic lines. 环境问题并不理会这些地理界限。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

20 gadgets   

n.小机械，小器具（ gadget的名词复数 ）

参考例句：

• Certainly. The idea is not to have a house full of gadgets. 当然。设想是房屋不再充满小配件。 来自超越目标英语 第4册
• This meant more gadgets and more experiments. 这意味着要设计出更多的装置，做更多的实验。 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史