VOA慢速英语2016 虚拟现实电影让观众身临其境

New Technology Aims to Put Audiences ‘Inside’ the Movie 虚拟现实电影让观众身临其境

A new technology might change the way people watch movies in the theater.

一项新技术可能会改变人们在影院观看电影的方式。

Instead of watching a film on the screen, you would enter the scene and watch the action take place all around you.

人们并非在屏幕上观看电影，而是身临现场观看身边发生的各种情节。

This is what Virtual Reality, or VR, and 360-degree video promise to give audiences. The idea is to make you feel like you are in the movie.

这就是虚拟现实技术和360度视频能给观众提供的体验，目标就是让你感觉身临其境。

Online websites like YouTube and Vimeo already offer some VR films.  Both professionals and amateurs have made these kinds of films. To watch, people wear expensive headsets that cover their eyes and ears. 

YouTube和Vimeo等网站已经提供了一些虚拟现实电影。专业人们和业余爱好者都制作了这种类型的电影。要观看这种电影，人们要佩戴昂贵的、覆盖了眼镜和耳朵的虚拟现实头盔。

There are less costly² ways to see VR films. Many people use their smart phones, placed in a special cardboard box. Then, they hold it up to their eyes to watch.  The boxes can be bought from Google for $15.

还有些成本更低的方式来看虚拟现实电影。许多人把他们的智能手机放入一个特制的盒子中，然后把盒子拿到眼前观看。这些盒子可以花15美元从谷歌公司买到。

People are experiencing the technology in many places.

人们在很多地方体验到这种技术。

South by Southwest (SXSW) is a media and technology conference held every year in Austin, Texas. This March, people put on headsets there to watch part of a funny crime film shot in VR in Baltimore, Maryland.

西南偏南是德克萨斯州奥斯汀市每年举办的媒体和技术大会。今年3月，人们在这里戴上虚拟现实头盔观看了一段有趣的犯罪电影片段，这部电影是在马里兰州巴尔的摩市利用虚拟现实技术拍摄的。

The people who produced “Career Opportunities in Organized Crime,” say it is the first full-length film made in 360-degree Virtual Reality.

《Career Opportunities in Organized Crime》这部电影的制作方表示，这是第一部完全用360度虚拟现实技术拍摄的电影。

But with 360-degree filming, there is a problem. If viewers looked away from the main action on their headset and “turned around,” they could see the crew shooting the film.

但是360度拍摄存在一个问题。观众把视线从虚拟现实头盔中看到的主要情节转移开，扭头就能看到拍摄电影的工作人员。

To solve this problem, they made the film a “mockumentary,” in other words, a fake documentary. In this way, making the film became part of the story.

为了解决这个问题，他们让这部影片成为一部伪纪录片。通过这样，让电影成为故事的一部分。

VR headsets are also being used to view films that allow people to travel around the world without leaving home.

虚拟现实头盔还被用于观看各种让人们足不出户环游世界的影片。

A company called YouVisit has films that can be used to advertise trips. It can also help people who cannot physically³ travel, but want to feel the experience of going places.

一家名为YouVisit的公司拥有可用于宣传旅行的影片。它还能帮助到无法真实旅行却又想亲身感受的人们。

VR headsets have been used in some computer games. But many people experience sea sickness, or nausea⁴, when using them.

虚拟现实头盔已经被用于一些电脑游戏，但是很多人在使用时感觉眩晕或恶心。

Also at South by Southwest recently, companies showed off other movie technologies. Some used special screens.

同样是在最近的西南偏南大会上，各个公司展示了其它电影技术。有些使用了特殊的屏幕。

One company, Japanese NHK Media Technology Company, showed their 8K resolution 3-D, or three dimensional, film. The sound system for the film used 24 speakers. As music played around the people watching, images appeared to jump out of the screen in sharp detail.

日本NHK媒体技术公司展示了他们8K分辨率的三维电影。这部电影采用了24扬声器的声音系统。观看时音乐在四周响起，图像的锐利细节像是要跳出屏幕来。

But this high technology comes at a high cost. A company spokesman said the video and sound system costs $500,000 to set up. That is more than average movie theaters would pay.

但是这种高科技耗费巨大。该公司发言人表示，设立该视频和声音系统需要耗资50万美元，这比一般影院愿意支付的高出很多。

Another system shown at South by Southwest was more accessible.

西南偏南大会上展示的另一种系统则更容易获得。

A Utah company, Fulldome.pro¹, uses a dome⁵—a structure that is shaped like half a ball. The company set up a dome at an angle to the floor with a film playing inside. Viewers sit back in comfortable seats inside the dome to watch the images in front of them with a 180-degree view. 

犹他州的Fulldome.pro公司采用了一个半球结构。该公司在地板上以一定角度设置了一个半球，放映机放置在半球内部。观众们坐在半球内部舒适的座椅上以180度视角观看在他们面前呈现的画面。

It is too early to know how these technologies will change the movie business. Theater owners are not quick to invest a lot of money in devices that might be popular for only a short time.

想知道这些技术将会如何改变电影业尚为时过早。影院老板不会很快就在可能只会短暂流行的设备上投入大量资金。

However, the movie theater business faces tough competition from home theater systems, online streaming and piracy⁶.

然而，电影院生意面临着家庭影院系统、在线观看和盗版影片的激烈竞争。

Changing the way people see movies in a theater might give the business new life. Theaters may have a brighter future if they can provide a movie experience that people cannot get at home.

如果电影院能够提供一种观众在家无法获得的电影体验，它可能就会前途光明。

Words in This Story

amateur – n. not professional

nausea – n. the feeling in your stomach when you might vomit⁷

accessible – adj. able to reach or be approached

angle – n. used to describe a something that leans or goes to the side instead of straight up and down

streaming – v. watching or sending out audio or video on the internet

piracy – n. the act of illegally making television or radio broadcasts

1 pro   

n.赞成，赞成的意见，赞成者

参考例句：

• The two debating teams argued the question pro and con.辩论的两组从赞成与反对两方面辩这一问题。
• Are you pro or con nuclear disarmament?你是赞成还是反对核裁军？

2 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

3 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

4 nausea   

n.作呕，恶心；极端的憎恶(或厌恶)

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕期常有恶心的现象。
• He experienced nausea after eating octopus.吃了章鱼后他感到恶心。

5 dome   

n.圆屋顶，拱顶

参考例句：

• The dome was supported by white marble columns.圆顶由白色大理石柱支撑着。
• They formed the dome with the tree's branches.他们用树枝搭成圆屋顶。

6 piracy   

n.海盗行为，剽窃，著作权侵害

参考例句：

• The government has already adopted effective measures against piracy.政府已采取有效措施惩治盗版行为。
• They made the place a notorious centre of piracy.他们把这地方变成了臭名昭著的海盗中心。

7 vomit   

v.呕吐，作呕；n.呕吐物，吐出物

参考例句：

• They gave her salty water to make her vomit.他们给她喝盐水好让她吐出来。
• She was stricken by pain and began to vomit.她感到一阵疼痛，开始呕吐起来。