美国国家公共电台 NPR--VR designer helps people experience what it was like to play in the Negro Leagues

VR designer helps people experience what it was like to play in the Negro Leagues

Transcript¹

A new virtual reality experience takes players back to the era of Negro Leagues baseball. How does it feel to be totally immersed in a game you've only read about in history books?

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

How does it feel to be totally immersed in a game that you've only read about in history books?

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

A virtual reality designer is helping² people experience what it would be like to try on the spikes³ of baseball players in the Negro Leagues of the 1940s.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As character) Hey, rookie. Show me that arm.

INSKEEP: The game is called Barnstormers: Determined⁴ to Win. And it was developed by Derek Ham.

MARTIN: Ham is an associate professor at North Carolina State University. He says he doesn't think of it as a video, but more like a short, interactive⁵ film.

DEREK HAM: There's a screen in front of you. There's a division. You're still in your living room, and you're watching those things take place in front of you. VR breaks that barrier. And so instead of saying, I'm watching something about the Negro League, you're role-playing through it.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character) Strike.

INSKEEP: Ham says the game is meant to offer a sense of the acclaim⁶ that the players received and also the racism⁷ that they experienced on the field.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #3: (As character) You boys got the folk around here real worked up.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #3: (As character) They all excited about your Negro baseball. Circus show, if you ask me.

HAM: When you want to share the feelings of another person, it doesn't have to just be pain and suffering. You could also feel what it's like for triumph or a story of triumph through pain and suffering...

(SOUNDBITE OF BAT HITTING BASEBALL)

HAM: ...To give you that experience of like, man, these people are out here. They're out here to see me, even though I'm not in the majors, even though that door was closed. You know what, we're going to make our own door, and we're going to make our own space and do it at the highest level over here and have fun.

MARTIN: Barnstormers: Determined to Win is available on the gaming platform Steam.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

3 spikes   

n.穗( spike的名词复数 )；跑鞋；（防滑）鞋钉；尖状物v.加烈酒于( spike的第三人称单数 )；偷偷地给某人的饮料加入（更多）酒精（ 或药物）；把尖状物钉入；打乱某人的计划

参考例句：

• a row of iron spikes on a wall 墙头的一排尖铁
• There is a row of spikes on top of the prison wall to prevent the prisoners escaping. 监狱墙头装有一排尖钉，以防犯人逃跑。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

5 interactive   

adj.相互作用的，互相影响的，（电脑）交互的

参考例句：

• The psychotherapy is carried out in small interactive groups.这种心理治疗是在互动的小组之间进行的。
• This will make videogames more interactive than ever.这将使电子游戏的互动性更胜以往。

6 acclaim   

v.向…欢呼，公认；n.欢呼，喝彩，称赞

参考例句：

• He was welcomed with great acclaim.他受到十分热烈的欢迎。
• His achievements earned him the acclaim of the scientific community.他的成就赢得了科学界的赞誉。

7 racism   

n.民族主义；种族歧视(意识)

参考例句：

• He said that racism is endemic in this country.他说种族主义在该国很普遍。
• Racism causes political instability and violence.种族主义道致政治动荡和暴力事件。