VOA常速英语2018--运动障碍没关系 头部摆动可操控手机

Online shopping, checking tomorrow’s weather, sending text messages, just some of the things people do on their phones. But what if you have motor disabilities or can’t hold or touch a phone? Today, it’s almost impossible for them to directly interact with their cell phones.

网上购物、查天气预报、发送短信，这些都是大家会用手机做的事情。但如果一个人有运动障碍，握不住手机或者无法触屏呢？如今，对于这样的人来说，直接跟手机互动几乎是不可能的。

eBay research scientist General Xie needed to find a solution while working with an intern¹ who wanted to shop online, but couldn’t hold the phone and had trouble using voice controlled software.

研究eBay的科学家谢经理需要找到一个解决方案，因为与他共事的一位实习生想要网上购物，却握不住手机，而且也很难用声音来控制软件。

They thought about using eye movement, but it turns out eyes don’t move smoothly².

他们有想过通过眼球移动来控制，但却发现眼睛无法顺畅地移动。

So they came up with another idea. Can we use that pat movement to control a virtual stylus on a cell phone? And like a lightbulb, eBay’s HeadGaze was born, using a smartphone’s camera to track head gestures.

于是，他们想到了另一个主意。是否可以通过拍打的动作来控制手机上的虚拟触控笔呢？与灯泡类似，eBay的HeadGaze就这样应运而生了，它可以通过智能手机的摄像头来跟踪头部的动作。

It’s similar like you use the mouse to control the cursor on the screens. We take that 3D head positional orientation³ information and apply some math, mathematics calculation, and project that information under the 2D screen so that the phone would know on which part of the screen you are looking at.

这个发明很像用鼠标控制屏幕上的光标。我们先是获取3D头部位置方向信息，然后做一些数学计算，再把信息在2D屏幕上投射。这样一来，手机就知道你在看屏幕的哪个部分了。

Besides allowing his coworker to shop by phone, Xie says HeadGaze has potential for broader applications.

除了可以让同事网上购物之外，谢经理还表示，HeadGaze还有更多的应用前景。

eBay says it’s making the software code freely available to developers, so they can come up with their own ideas for hands-free surfing.

eBay表示自己已经公开了这个软件的源代码，供所有人开发使用。这样大家就可以为无需动手就能网上冲浪的操作献计献策了。

This kind of technology has potential huge impact, and we think we’re sure to give it back to the communities so that a lot of other people can quickly adapt that technologies and benefit for that.

这类技术有可能产生重大影响，我们认为肯定能回馈各社群。这样一来，很多其他人就能迅速适应这类技术，并从中得益。

Whether scrolling⁴ through recipes or shopping online, HeadGaze could change the way we navigate⁵ our phones.

无论是浏览菜谱还是网上购物，HeadGaze都能改变我们使用手机的方式。

1 intern   

v.拘禁，软禁；n.实习生

参考例句：

• I worked as an intern in that firm last summer.去年夏天我在那家商行实习。
• The intern bandaged the cut as the nurse looked on.这位实习生在护士的照看下给病人包扎伤口。

2 smoothly   

adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地

参考例句：

• The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
• Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。

3 orientation   

n.方向，目标；熟悉，适应，情况介绍

参考例句：

• Children need some orientation when they go to school.小孩子上学时需要适应。
• The traveller found his orientation with the aid of a good map.旅行者借助一幅好地图得知自己的方向。

4 scrolling   

n.卷[滚]动法，上下换行v.（电脑屏幕上）从上到下移动（资料等），卷页( scroll的现在分词 )；（似卷轴般）卷起；（像展开卷轴般地）将文字显示于屏幕

参考例句：

• Another important detail required by auto-scrolling is a time delay. 自动滚屏需要的另一个重要细节是时间延迟。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• In 2D visualization and drawing applications, vertical and horizontal scrolling are common. 在二维的可视化及绘图应用中，垂直和水平滚动非常普遍。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

5 navigate   

v.航行，飞行；导航，领航

参考例句：

• He was the first man to navigate the Atlantic by air.他是第一个飞越大西洋的人。
• Such boats can navigate on the Nile.这种船可以在尼罗河上航行。