VOA标准英语2012--Japanese Robots Besting Humans at Games

 

Japanese Robots Besting Humans at Games

Tokyo University engineering professor Masatoshi Ishikawa has a good-natured response to frustrated¹ human losers who accuse him of essentially² creating a robot that cheats.

"[It is] not cheating. Every one millisecond the image processor decides, recognizes the shape [the human hand is going to make]. And after one millisecond can make a winnable shape, one millsecond later than a human being. Only one millisecond. But a human cannot see this difference because the human eye is very slow," explained Ishikawa.

More dexterous³ abilities, combining repetition and near perfect accuracy are the epitome⁴ of robotics. At the Ishikawa Oku Laboratory there has been amazing progress in that direction. Such as a robot that can catch a falling egg without breaking it, another one that can tie a knot, and a robot that may not be quite ready for the NBA, but is able to dribble⁵ a ball.

In such sports as baseball or cricket, the misses outnumber successes for even the most skilled athletes. That is not so in this award-winning school laboratory. For instance, a pitching robot is the result of five years of research and a lot of trial and error. And the cost of just one finger on the robot is equivalent to that of a compact car.

The technology obviously has uses beyond fun and games. Corporations are eager to take advantage of the lab's technology for industrial and other practical uses. And there is talk of applying it to assist disabled people and enhance human capabilities⁶.

"As a first step I want to realize a high-speed, intelligent robot. After we recognize the stability, the safety of the high speed, we will apply [this technology] to the human body," Ishikawa added.

In the meantime, Professor Ishikawa and his associates are continuing to try to make their robots faster, more flexible and more precise to consistently outdo humans. 

1 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

3 dexterous   

adj.灵敏的；灵巧的

参考例句：

• As people grow older they generally become less dexterous.随着年龄的增长，人通常会变得不再那么手巧。
• The manager was dexterous in handling his staff.那位经理善于运用他属下的职员。

4 epitome   

n.典型，梗概

参考例句：

• He is the epitome of goodness.他是善良的典范。
• This handbook is a neat epitome of everyday hygiene.这本手册概括了日常卫生的要点。

5 dribble   

v.点滴留下，流口水；n.口水

参考例句：

• Melted wax dribbled down the side of the candle.熔化了的蜡一滴滴从蜡烛边上流下。
• He wiped a dribble of saliva from his chin.他擦掉了下巴上的几滴口水。

6 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓