VOA标准英语2014--科学家创造与人类共同生活的机器人

 

Scientists Build Robots to Live With Humans 科学家创造与人类共同生活的机器人

Industrial robots are already working in many factories around the world and in our homes, for instance as smart vacuum cleaners.  Scientists say in a few years we will start seeing so-called "social robots," capable of engaging with people.

Today’s robots can build cars and explore underwater objects. But interacting with people is more complex than simply taking an incoming message, says Massachusetts Institute of Technology researcher Cynthia Breazeal.

“Social robots really interact with people in ways you feel like you're interacting with someone rather than something," she said. "And social robots are really designed to engage you in much more of an interaction that feels like a collaboration¹ or partnership².”

At the Naval³ Research Laboratory, near Washington, scientists are researching which features robots should have to be able to live with humans. Researcher Alan Schultz says social robots must be adapted to social situations.

“You know if you're going to have robots out in the wild, so to speak, they have to obey our norms and they have to do things in the way we expect, so that we can move about our environment and not be interrupted by them or have to think hard about the fact that they're around us,” he said.

Social robots do not necessarily have to have a human face. Steve Cousins, the CEO of Savioke Robotics in Cupertino, California, says their robot called Botlr is already being tested in a hotel, delivering small items to people.

“It's designed to be in human spaces and interact with people and around people," he said. "So it interacts with the front desk agent when they're sending it somewhere. It interacts with people in the elevator as it’s going along. And, it interacts with people at the door when the delivery arrives.”

So far, social robots are limited to very simple tasks like relaying messages or taking family photos. But Cynthia Breazeal, who designed this one, says their abilities may be extended into many different domains⁴.

“Going deeper into things like education, like health and wellness, like aging independently and remaining connected to family, and entertainment and games and online services, and so much more,” she said.

However, critics say until robots are capable of cleaning windows or cooking dinner it will not make much sense to spend money on cute gadgets⁵ that can do something our smart phone is already capable of doing.

1 collaboration   

n.合作，协作；勾结

参考例句：

• The two companies are working in close collaboration each other.这两家公司密切合作。
• He was shot for collaboration with the enemy.他因通敌而被枪毙了。

2 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

3 naval   

adj.海军的，军舰的，船的

参考例句：

• He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
• The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。

4 domains   

n.范围( domain的名词复数 )；领域；版图；地产

参考例句：

• The theory of thermodynamics links the macroscopic and submicroscopic domains. 热力学把宏观世界同亚微观世界联系起来。 来自辞典例句
• All three flow domains are indicated by shading. 所有三个流动区域都是用阴影部分表示的。 来自辞典例句

5 gadgets   

n.小机械，小器具（ gadget的名词复数 ）

参考例句：

• Certainly. The idea is not to have a house full of gadgets. 当然。设想是房屋不再充满小配件。 来自超越目标英语 第4册
• This meant more gadgets and more experiments. 这意味着要设计出更多的装置，做更多的实验。 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史