“可穿着电脑”将逐渐走进我们的生活
文章来源: 文章作者: 发布时间:2006-09-04 10:11 字体: [ ]  进入论坛
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Wearable Computers You Can Slip Into

摘要:
    最新型的可穿着电脑产品在外观方面与普通衣物几乎没有什么两样,而售价的降低和功能的丰富也许会使它成为未来人类不可或缺的工具之一。
    The latest generation of these ever-smarter garments look like ordinary clothes, assembled together with Velcro that conducts electricity, these pieces form a bag that looks, feels, and weighs like your typical leather purse.

    你能否想象一台仅仅4英寸大小的电脑?用户可以方便地随身携带,重量与一件普通的皮夹克差不多。它,就是“可穿着式电脑”。最新型的可穿着电脑产品在外观方面与普通衣物几乎没有什么两样,而售价的降低和功能的丰富也许会使它成为未来人类不可或缺的工具之一。

    据美国《商业周刊》3月8日报道,这种“小家伙”可以帮助用户通过无线方式与主人的其他财物保持联系,并随时随地提醒用户一些生活细节。当用户离开房间的时候,它会乖巧地提醒主人不要忘记携带钱包;在主人出行时,它会自动查询天气预报,帮助主人做到未雨绸缪;它甚至还可以在主人穿着的围脖中加入喜欢的歌曲。

    的确,这些高科技的电脑更多情况下只能出现在科幻小说的情节当中。不过,根据市场调查机构IDC提供的预测数据,下一代“可穿着式电脑”产品在未来几年中将成为市场上的常见商品。IDC预测,这种高科技产品的销量,包括电脑钱包、电脑手表、电脑T恤,将从去年的26万台提高到2008年的139万台。

    高科技电脑产品的背后都有着坚实的技术支柱。过去两年中,美国杜邦公司发明了一种新型的纤维材质,名为Aracon。这种材料具有超高强度并可导电,最重要的是,它可以被任意地折叠并制作成衣服。芯片制造商英飞凌(Infineon)公司也开发了一款专门用于可穿着电脑产品的芯片包,这种芯片包可以在衣物电脑被水洗的过程中保护芯片的安全。

    与上一代昂贵的可穿着电脑不同,新型产品在售价方面更加廉价。IDC预计,在未来两到三年内,可穿着电脑的平均售价将降至每台150美元。这个价格已接近普通皮夹克的售价,为产品的普及奠定了坚实的基础。

    目前,这种产品已被应用于医疗服务领域。美国经营健康产品的Apex公司计划在本月晚些时候,将这种可穿着式电脑应用于帮助用户减肥方面,此款产品可随时计算出用户所消耗的热量并科学地调节减肥者的膳食结构;加州一些医学院及制药公司则将可穿着电脑应用于病人实时监控方面,以便让医生随时观察病人的心跳、血压、呼吸等数据。

    随着可穿着电脑产品的广泛应用,也许再过几年电影《星球大战》中描述的那种科学世界将真正来临。

    Gauri Nanda sees a wearable computer as a...handbag -- one that's built out of four-inch squares and triangles of fabric1, with tiny computer chips embedded2 in it.

    Assembled together with Velcro that conducts electricity, these pieces form a bag that looks, feels, and weighs like your typical leather purse.

    That's where the similarities end: This bag can wirelessly3 keep tabs on your belongings4 and remind you, just as you're about to leave the house, to take your wallet. It can review the weather report and suggest that you grab an umbrella -- or your sunshades. This purse can even upload your favorite songs onto your scarf.

    Sure, a computing5 purse and scarf set may seem like the stuff of science fiction. But these devices, part of next generation of wearable computers, could become commonplace within a few years. Unit shipments of such wearable computers -- purses, watches, shirts -- should rise from 261,000 last year to 1.39 million in 2008, according to the tech research firm IDC.

    Powering this market are advancements6 in design and in fabric-embedded electronics. Over the last two years, DuPont (DD ) created new fibers7 called Aracon, made of Kevlar, that are superstrong, can conduct electricity, and can be woven into ordinary-looking clothes. And chipmaker Infineon (IFX ) developed chip packaging allowing wearable computers to be washed, even in the heavy-duty cycle.

    As a result, these new wearables are a far cry from the clunky and downright silly versions of the recent past, which often required users to be wrapped in wires, type on their stomachs, and sport an unseemly display on their foreheads. "Cyborg computing was very clunky, very bulky machines that people didn't want to carry around," says Nanda, a researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass. "Our bags feel and look like bags."

    Unlike their predecessors8, these new wearable computers also make economic sense. When her bag becomes commercially available in two to three years, Nanda expects it will cost around $150, which is the price of an average leather purse. Only "it's fun, you can rip apart and put together a computer," she says.

    Here's how the bag works: You place a special radio-signal-transmitting chip onto your wallet. A similar radio in your purse picks up the signal and notifies you that you've forgotten to take your wallet. In turn, sensors9 on your purse's handles will notify the computer that you've picked up the purse and are ready to go.

    Such unobtrusive, inconspicuous, and fun devices should grab more than 80% of the total wearable computing market by 2008, while cyborgian wearable PCs will remain a niche10, says IDC analyst11 Kevin Burden. Already, these new kinds of wearables are being adopted for use in markets like auto12 repair, emergency services, medical monitoring -- and even, increasingly, for consumers at large.

    Wearables are also slowly making their way into the auto-repair market. A company called Microvision (MVIS ) recently introduced its Nomad13 head-mounted display. It covers one eye, but it's see-through, allowing auto technicians to examine the innards of a car and check them against on-screen computer drawings at the same time. It comes as a baseball cap clip-on, to be more unobtrusive.

    So far, it's a hit: At Jim Fisher Volvo dealership14 in Portland, Ore., which has been testing the system for about seven months, productivity of technicians went up 10% to 20%, says Service Manager John Prosser. Better yet, customers talking to technicians who are wearing these contraptions also are more likely to agree to repairs, pushing revenue up 15% to 18%. Says Prosser: "This makes [technicians] want to get involved and to cross this bridge of reluctance15" in using a new technology.

    Indeed, many more people will want to cross that bridge in the coming years -- making for a booming market for wearable computers that don't look like something out of an old Star Trek16 episode.



点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 fabric 3hezG     
n.织物,织品,布;构造,结构,组织
参考例句:
  • The fabric will spot easily.这种织品很容易玷污。
  • I don't like the pattern on the fabric.我不喜欢那块布料上的图案。
2 embedded lt9ztS     
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。
3 wirelessly 9cf7b6b54adbdbcf4be7f6db9924bae9     
不用电线的,用无线电波传送的
参考例句:
  • I heard it on the wireless. 我是从无线电收音机里听到的。
  • There are a lot of wireless links in a radio. 收音机里有许多无线电线路。
4 belongings oy6zMv     
n.私人物品,私人财物
参考例句:
  • I put a few personal belongings in a bag.我把几件私人物品装进包中。
  • Your personal belongings are not dutiable.个人物品不用纳税。
5 computing tvBzxs     
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。
6 advancements d9d88b0aa041a51f56ca9b4113bf311c     
n.(级别的)晋升( advancement的名词复数 );前进;进展;促进
参考例句:
  • Today, the pace of life is increasing with technological advancements. 当今, 随着科技进步,生活节奏不断增快。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • Great advancements in drought prediction have been made in recent years. 近年来,人们对干旱灾害的预报研究取得了长足的进步。 来自互联网
7 fibers 421d63991f1d1fc8826d6e71d5e15f53     
光纤( fiber的名词复数 ); (织物的)质地; 纤维,纤维物质
参考例句:
  • Thesolution of collagen-PVA was wet spined with the sodium sulfate as coagulant and collagen-PVA composite fibers were prepared. 在此基础上,以硫酸钠为凝固剂,对胶原-PVA共混溶液进行湿法纺丝,制备了胶原-PVA复合纤维。
  • Sympathetic fibers are distributed to all regions of the heart. 交感神经纤维分布于心脏的所有部分。
8 predecessors b59b392832b9ce6825062c39c88d5147     
n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 );前辈;(被取代的)原有事物;前身
参考例句:
  • The new government set about dismantling their predecessors' legislation. 新政府正着手废除其前任所制定的法律。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Will new plan be any more acceptable than its predecessors? 新计划比原先的计划更能令人满意吗? 来自《简明英汉词典》
9 sensors 029aee483db9ae244d7a5cb353e74602     
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
10 niche XGjxH     
n.壁龛;合适的职务(环境、位置等)
参考例句:
  • Madeleine placed it carefully in the rocky niche. 玛德琳小心翼翼地把它放在岩石壁龛里。
  • The really talented among women would always make their own niche.妇女中真正有才能的人总是各得其所。
11 analyst gw7zn     
n.分析家,化验员;心理分析学家
参考例句:
  • What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务?
  • The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。
12 auto ZOnyW     
n.(=automobile)(口语)汽车
参考例句:
  • Don't park your auto here.别把你的汽车停在这儿。
  • The auto industry has brought many people to Detroit.汽车工业把许多人吸引到了底特律。
13 nomad uHyxx     
n.游牧部落的人,流浪者,游牧民
参考例句:
  • He was indeed a nomad of no nationality.他的确是个无国籍的游民。
  • The nomad life is rough and hazardous.游牧生活艰苦又危险。
14 dealership Kv6zWa     
n.商品特许经销处
参考例句:
  • The car dealership has a large inventory of used cars. 这家汽车经销商拥有数量庞大的二手车。
  • A key to this effort is the experience in the dealership. 达到这个成果的关键是销售的体验。
15 reluctance 8VRx8     
n.厌恶,讨厌,勉强,不情愿
参考例句:
  • The police released Andrew with reluctance.警方勉强把安德鲁放走了。
  • He showed the greatest reluctance to make a reply.他表示很不愿意答复。
16 trek 9m8wi     
vi.作长途艰辛的旅行;n.长途艰苦的旅行
参考例句:
  • We often go pony-trek in the summer.夏季我们经常骑马旅行。
  • It took us the whole day to trek across the rocky terrain.我们花了一整天的时间艰难地穿过那片遍布岩石的地带。
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