VOA标准英语2013--Intel Offers Glimpse of Future

 

Intel Offers Glimpse of Future

A vehicle mock-up shows a driver whose brain activity, monitored by head sensors¹, and eye movement, tracked by a dashboard camera, tell how alert he is at the wheel.

Intel Labs senior fellow Justin Rattner says devices like these will make driving safer.

"We're not monitoring brain waves. We're seeing how much of the brain is occupied in a given situation, how much of the brain is occupied when you're driving your car, or when you're driving and trying to send text messages," said Rattner.

Which is unsafe at any speed, as Rattner points out, unless you're in Google's experimental self-driving car. Google is another company that is pushing the limits of the latest technology. It is testing autonomous² vehicles on the roads of several American states, including California.

This technology is years away from general use. But even cars from Honda and other automakers are using sensors and cameras today to monitor traffic and warn drivers of dangerous situations.

Rattner points to an experimental Intel technology to link cars electronically so that the driver in the rear knows what the vehicle ahead of him is doing. When the front driver signals a turn or slows down, a dashboard indicator³ alerts the driver in the rear.

In future, we may not need to carry computers. We could project a virtual machine onto a table or other surface anywhere.

In this demonstration⁴, one was projected onto the table from a controller hidden in a flower pot. Sensors read the movements of the hands, so the system needs no mouse or hand-held devices.

At the market, sensors and computer chips embedded⁵ in products could mesh⁶ with devices carried by shoppers - to help them locate the items they want and avoid those with ingredients such as peanuts, to which they may be allergic⁷.

Cameras and sensors are already available to help parents watch their children. More advanced monitors will one day check the baby's health and mood.

Security badges for a company's workers could, in a few years, have built-in computers, like some on display here. A swipe of the badge brings up a tiny computer display.

And security is being enhanced and simplified, with face-recognition software instead of complicated passwords, says Paul Schmitz of Intel Labs. He says a simple device like a mobile phone could provide multiple levels of security, with face recognition software, and if needed, added but simple-to-use tiers of protection.

"And that could be in terms of voice, it could be in terms of a 3D facial scan so that you can make sure that it really is me and not somebody holding up a picture of me," said Schmitz.

Schmitz says new forms of encryption will make high-tech⁸ systems harder to hack⁹.

The key to these new devices and systems is learning what people want and devising solutions to provide that, says Justin Rattner. He says one thing is certain in the world of technology.

"It's the steady advance of chip technology that makes all of these other devices and services possible," he said.

Rattner says new technology brings new concerns about privacy and data protection, and that Intel takes that seriously. But, he adds, that growing computing¹⁰ capacity, used in imaginative ways, is already changing our lives and will change them more in the future.

1 sensors   

n.传感器，灵敏元件( sensor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• 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

2 autonomous   

adj.自治的；独立的

参考例句：

• They proudly declared themselves part of a new autonomous province.他们自豪地宣布成为新自治省的一部分。
• This is a matter that comes within the jurisdiction of the autonomous region.这件事是属于自治区权限以内的事务。

3 indicator   

n.指标；指示物，指示者；指示器

参考例句：

• Gold prices are often seen as an indicator of inflation.黃金价格常常被看作是通货膨胀的指标。
• His left-hand indicator is flashing.他左手边的转向灯正在闪亮。

4 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。

5 embedded   

a.扎牢的

参考例句：

• 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。

6 mesh   

n.网孔，网丝，陷阱；vt.以网捕捉，啮合，匹配；vi.适合； [计算机]网络

参考例句：

• Their characters just don't mesh.他们的性格就是合不来。
• This is the net having half inch mesh.这是有半英寸网眼的网。

7 allergic   

adj.过敏的，变态的

参考例句：

• Alice is allergic to the fur of cats.艾丽斯对猫的皮毛过敏。
• Many people are allergic to airborne pollutants such as pollen.许多人对空气传播的污染物过敏，比如花粉。

8 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。

9 hack   

n.劈，砍，出租马车；v.劈，砍，干咳

参考例句：

• He made a hack at the log.他朝圆木上砍了一下。
• Early settlers had to hack out a clearing in the forest where they could grow crops.早期移民不得不在森林里劈出空地种庄稼。

10 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。