VOA慢速英语2013 IBM Says Computers Will See, Taste, Smell, Touch and Hear Things Better in the Future

 

IBM Says Computers Will See, Taste, Smell, Touch and Hear Things Better in the Future

From VOA Learning English, this is the Technology Report in Special English.

Every year, IBM Corporation chooses five new technologies it believes will change the world within the next five years. The IBM list is called “Five in Five.” The company says it considers its own research and the new directions of society and business when identifying the technologies.

This year, the list describes some future devices that will extend our five senses. Imagine looking for clothes online and touching² your computer or smartphone to feel the cloth. IBM Vice¹ President Bernie Meyerson predicts that technology could be available in the next five years.

“You’re talking about almost reinventing the way computers operate and how you interact with them as humans.”

Touch is just one of the senses that computers will help to extend. IBM says smart machines will soon be able to listen to the environment and give us information about the sounds they hear. For example, Bernie Meyerson says an advanced speech recognition system will tell new parents why their baby is crying.

“From the sound the baby is creating, that particular frequency in the voice of the child, you know the difference between a child for instance who is sick as opposed to a child who is just lonely. That kind of understanding would be great for parents. This kind of thing is not possible today, but with a sophisticated enough system, it actually is possible.”

Smart machines will also help identify medical conditions. If you sneeze on your computer or cell phone, the machine will study thousands of molecules³ in your breath. Then it can tell you whether you need to see a doctor.

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

In the near future, built-in cameras in our personal computers will be able to examine and name colors and recognize images. Mr. Meyerson says IBM scientists are also developing a computer system that can examine and combine food molecules to create the most popular flavors and smells.

“It’ll start to be able to recommend to you foods you’ll love the taste of, but it can also keep track of the caloric limits, whether you have limits on fat or cholesterol⁴ that you can eat. So it strikes this almost ideal balance between the best possible taste and the best possible nutritional⁵ outcome.”

Mark Maloof is a computer science professor at Georgetown University. He says he hopes the progress that IBM is predicting will lead more students to create future inventions.

“It’s going to be very exciting to see what young people do with the increased availability of mobile platforms and networking and computing⁶ power.”

Professor Maloof says advances in computer technology 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

参考例句：

• 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 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。

3 molecules   

分子( molecule的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• 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。

4 cholesterol   

n.（U）胆固醇

参考例句：

• 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。

5 nutritional   

adj.营养的，滋养的

参考例句：

• 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。

6 computing   

n.计算

参考例句：

• 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。