Technology is constantly narrowing the gap between science fiction and reality, bringing fundamental changes into our lives.
日新月异的科技不断缩小科幻小说和科学事实间的差距，还给我们的生活带来根本上的改变。
According to IBM researchers, in five years we won’t need passwords, won’t be bothered by junk mail and will be able to control many of our machines with our minds.
根据IBM研究人员的预测，5年内我们就不再需要密码，也不再会被垃圾电邮打搅，我们还能用我们的心操控许多机器。
The American technology company released its 6th annual Five-in-Five, a list of five innovations the firm expects to see within five years.
美国科技公司IBM要进入第两百个年头了，它日前公布了第6次的“未来5年5大科技预测”。
One of them will enable us to generate small amounts of energy to supplement the electric power we use in our homes.
这个名单是IBM预测我们将在未来5年看见的5大科技创新。其中一项将使我们能产生小量能源供给家户电力。
“You can do micro-electronic generation,” says Bernie Meyerson, vice president of Innovation at IBM. “For instance, you can have somebody in the third world who has access to a phone or a smart phone, but doesn’t have access to a power grid, which is a very common thing and literally in a shoe has something that recovers energy from walking and can charge the battery to enable that person to actually become connected with the rest of the world.”
IBM创新部门的副主管梅尔森说：“你可以作微观的发电。例如，第三世界国家的某个人有支手机或智慧型手机，但却没有电力供应，这是很常见的事。在他的鞋里头装上靠走路发电的装置，他的手机随时能充电，使这个人实际上跟全世界联结了起来。”
Another innovation will make those hard-to-remember passwords obsolete. Soon, in order to access our e-mail or bank account, we'll use a technology known as biometrics. A tiny sensor could confirm your identity by recognizing the unique patterns in the retina of your eye.
另一项科技创新将让那些难记的密码消失。不久，我们将能用一种被称为生物辨识的科技进入电邮信箱或银行帐号。
“Imagine that things recognize you," Meyerson says. "You walk up to an ATM. It takes one look at you and says, ‘Yep, you’re you.’”
梅尔森说：“想象一下东西记得你。你走到一个提款机，机器看了你一眼说，嘿我知道你是谁。”
Within five years, it's possible we'll no longer be inundated with junk mail, because a new electronic device will delete it before we ever see it.
在5年内，我们将不会再被垃圾电邮淹没。梅尔森说，一个新的电子装置将在我们看到垃圾电邮前就把它删了。
“That device, as you act upon it, as you eliminate mail, you don’t read it, you just look at it and kill it," Meyerson says, "after a while it learns your habits and works as your assistant by eliminating stuff you never wanted anyway.”
梅尔森说：“在你删信的时候，你不用读信，你看它一眼然后删掉。如此过一阵子，这个装置就把你的习惯学起来，就象你的助理一样帮你删掉不想看的信。”
IBM also sees us controlling many of our electronic devices telepathically.
IBM还预测，我们将能用心灵能力控制许多电子装置。
“A simple ability to command a system to do something without actually doing or saying anything, literally thinking and having something happen, as a result, that’s accurate," Meyerson says. "Something with deep capability so that a person, for instance, who is paraplegic or quadriplegic, can actually utilize brain waves to make things happen and basically run their own lives independently.”
梅尔森说：“不必实际做或说来指挥一个系统做事、光用想就让事情精确地发生，这其实是很简单的能力。这种深刻的能力使例如瘫痪或四肢麻痹患者能运用脑波让事情发生，独立打理他们的生活。”
The fifth innovation on IBM’s list is the elimination of the so-called “digital divide,” between those who are and aren't connected.
梅尔森说，IBM名单上第5大科技创新是消除所谓的“数字鸿沟”。
"We anticipate that, in five years, better than 80 percent of coverage of the world populations by cellular phones and smart phones," Meyerson says. "At this point, imagine having, for instance, the ability to speak openly with anybody anywhere, anytime and in any language, real-time translation - literally the old Star Trek idea of a universal translator coming to be.”
梅尔森说：“想想看今天的数字鸿沟。世界被分为拥有和缺少数字产品的人，能与不能跟世界联结上的人。我们预期5年内世界超过80%人口都拥用手机和智慧型手机。到时，想象一下例如可以随时随地与随便一种语言的人讲话，这种实时翻译的能力不就是《星舰迷航》的宇宙翻译者的概念！”
IBM’s track record of predictions over the past five years has been mixed. Some predictions are still not reality. In 2006, for example, IBM researchers predicted there would be a 3D Internet by now.
IBM过去5年的预测结果好坏参半。一些预测到现在还没成真。在2006年，IBM研究人员预测，现在会有一个3D因特网。
However, in 2009, they predicted city buildings would “sense and respond” like living organisms. Three years later, that future is here. At a New York art museum, sensors are detecting subtle fluctuations in temperature, humidity, air flow and light levels, and adjusting the building’s environment to help preserve the works of art.
在2009年，他们预测城市建筑会象有机体一样感应与回应。3年后，这个未来果真到来了。纽约一个艺术博物馆，感应器会侦测温度、湿度和光线的细微变化，然后自动调节建筑的环境以维护艺术品的保存。
What’s important about the Five-in-Five list, says IBM’s Meyerson, is it encourages the researchers to turn as much of their innovative imagination as possible into practical realities.
IBM的梅尔森说，“未来5年5大科技预测”名单的重要之处在于，它鼓励那些努力将我们的创新想象变成真实的研究人员。 |