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DavidEagleman_2015-_我们能为人类创造新感官吗？_
We are built out of very small stuff , and we are embedded in a very large cosmos , and the fact is that we are not very good at understanding reality at either of those scales , and that's because our brains haven't evolved to understand the world at that scale. 我们由极其微小的物质构成, 又生存在无限大的宇宙当中, 然而实际上,无论从这两者中的哪一个尺度我们都无法 很好地理解这个世界, 这是因为我们的大脑 还没有进化到能从那样的尺度感知世界的程度。
stuff:n.东西:物品:基本特征:v.填满:装满:标本: embedded:adj.嵌入式的;植入的;内含的;v.嵌入(embed的过去式和过去分词形式); cosmos:n.宇宙;和谐;秩序;大波斯菊; scales:n.规模范围; v.攀登; (scale的第三人称单数和复数) evolved:v.(使)逐渐形成;进化;进化形成;(evolve的过去分词和过去式)
Instead, we're trapped on this very thin slice of perception right in the middle. 反之,我们的视角被局限在了这两者中间, 一块非常狭窄的范围内。
trapped:adj.受困的;受限制的;v.使落入险境;使陷入困境;(trap的过去分词和过去式) slice:n.片; v.切成片; (很容易地)切开; perception:n.感知;知觉;看法;洞察力;
But it gets strange, because even at that slice of reality that we call home, we're not seeing most of the action that's going on. 奇怪的是,即便我们对眼前的一切再熟悉不过, 其中绝大部分信息仍然对我们是不可见的。
So take the colors of our world. 看看现实中的色彩吧。
This is light waves, electromagnetic radiation that bounces off objects and it hits specialized receptors in the back of our eyes. 它们都是从物体反射的光波和电磁辐射, 由我们眼球后部特定的感受器接收。
electromagnetic:adj.电磁的; radiation:n.辐射;放射线;放射疗法; specialized:adj.专业的; v.专门研究(或从事); (specialize的过去式和过去分词) receptors:n.[生化]受体;接受器;神经末梢(receptor的复数);
But we're not seeing all the waves out there. 但是我们看不到全部的波。
In fact, what we see is less than a 10 trillionth of what's out there. 事实上,我们能看到的波 还不到全部的十万亿分之一。
trillionth:n.(英)第一百万兆,百万兆分之一; adj.(英)第一百万兆的,百万兆分之一的;
So you have radio waves and microwaves and X-rays and gamma rays passing through your body right now and you're completely unaware of it, because you don't come with the proper biological receptors for picking it up. 如果无线电波、微波 还有X射线和伽玛射线正穿过你的身体, 你是完全意识不到它们的存在的。 因为人类没有进化出可以感知这些波的 生物感受器。
microwaves:n.[物]微波; v.用微波炉烹调(microwave的单三形式); gamma:n.微克;希腊语的第三个字母; unaware:adj.不知道的,无意的;未察觉到的;adv.意外地;不知不觉地; biological:adj.生物学的;生物的;与生命过程有关的;加酶的;n.[药]生物制品;
There are thousands of cell phone conversations passing through you right now, and you're utterly blind to it. 此时此刻,正有成千上万个手机信号, 在你身边穿梭。 然而你完全毫无察觉。
utterly:adv.完全地;绝对地;全然地;彻底地,十足地;
Now, it's not that these things are inherently unseeable. 这些波并不是本身就不可见的。
inherently:adv.内在地;固有地;天性地;
Snakes include some infrared in their reality, and honeybees include ultraviolet in their view of the world, and of course we build machines in the dashboards of our cars 蛇可以看到红外线, 蜜蜂可以看到紫外线, 我们也当然能在汽车的仪表盘内设立装置
infrared:n.红外线;adj.红外线的; honeybees:[蜂]蜜蜂; ultraviolet:adj.紫外的;紫外线的;n.紫外线辐射,紫外光; dashboards:n.(汽车上的)仪表盘(dashboard的复数);
to pick up on signals in the radio frequency range, and we built machines in hospitals to pick up on the X-ray range. 来接收无线电信号收听广播, 医院里也有专门的X射线设备。
pick up on:注意到;了解;领悟;熟悉起来; frequency:n.频率;发生率;重复率;频繁;
But you can't sense any of those by yourself, at least not yet, because you don't come equipped with the proper sensors . 但是只凭人类自身的感官是绝对感知不到这些波的, 至少目前不能。 因为你的身体天生就没有配备这种传感器。
sensors:n.[自]传感器,感应器;感测器(sensor的复数);
Now, what this means is that our experience of reality is constrained by our biology , and that goes against the common sense notion that our eyes and our ears and our fingertips are just picking up the objective reality that's out there. 这意味着我们对现实的感知能力 被我们的生物特性束缚着。 我们的眼睛、耳朵还有指尖 若能感知所有客观存在的现实, 就违背常识了。
constrained:adj.不自然的; v.约束; (constrain的过去分词和过去式) biology:n.(一个地区全部的)生物;生物学; common sense:adj.常识的;有生活经验得来的; notion:n.观念;信念;理解; fingertips:n.指尖;(fingertip的复数) objective:n.目标; adj.客观的;
Instead, our brains are sampling just a little bit of the world. 相反的,我们的大脑只对现实世界的一小部分“浅尝辄止”。
Now, across the animal kingdom, different animals pick up on different parts of reality. 在整个动物王国, 不同类的动物感知着不一样的现实。
So in the blind and deaf world of the tick, the important signals are temperature and butyric acid; in the world of the black ghost knifefish, its sensory world is lavishly colored by electrical fields; and for the echolocating bat, its reality is constructed out of air compression waves. 对于又瞎又聋的壁虱来说, 温度和丁酸是重要的信息来源; 黑魔鬼刀鱼的世界, 则被电场施以丰富的颜色; 回声定位蝙蝠的世界, 则是由空气压缩波组成的。
butyric:adj.奶油的;酪酸的;由奶油中提取的; ghost:n.鬼,幽灵;v.作祟于;替…捉刀;为人代笔; sensory:adj.感觉的;知觉的;传递感觉的; lavishly:adv.丰富地;浪费地; electrical:adj.有关电的;电气科学的; echolocating:v.[物]用回音测定(方向或距离);(echolocating是echolocate的现在分词); constructed:v.修建;建造;组成;编制,绘制;(construct的过去分词和过去式) compression:n.压缩,浓缩;压榨,压迫;
That's the slice of their ecosystem that they can pick up on, and we have a word for this in science. 对于他们所熟悉的生态系统的组成, 有一个专门的科学名词来定义,
ecosystem:n.生态系统;
It's called the umwelt, which is the German word for the surrounding world. 名叫“环境”（umwelt）, 这是一个德语词,意为我们周围的世界。
Now, presumably , every animal assumes that its umwelt is the entire objective reality out there, because why would you ever stop to imagine that there's something beyond what we can sense. 也许每一种动物都假设, 它的“环境”就是整个客观现实, 因为很难想象, 在我们能感受到的对象之外还有其他存在。
presumably:adv.大概;推测起来;可假定; assumes:v.假定;采用;承担;呈;(assumes是assume的第三人称单数)
Instead, what we all do is we accept reality as it's presented to us. 事实上,我们只接受 现实呈现给我们的信息。
Let's do a consciousness-raiser on this. 让我们一起来提高这方面的意识。
Imagine that you are a bloodhound dog. 设想你是一只侦查犬。
bloodhound:n.侦探猎犬;毫不放松的追赶着;侦探;
Your whole world is about smelling. 你的全部世界就是闻气味。
You've got a long snout that has 200 million scent receptors in it, and you have wet nostrils that attract and trap scent molecules , and your nostrils even have slits so you can take big nosefuls of air. 你的长鼻子拥有2亿个气味接受器, 你的湿鼻孔可以捕捉气味分子, 你的鼻孔甚至有狭缝,这样你就可以大口的嗅空气。
snout:n.鼻子;猪嘴;烟草;鼻口部;口吻状物; scent:n.香味;香水;气息;察觉;v.嗅出;闻到;觉察出;预感到; nostrils:n.[解剖]鼻孔(nostril的复数); molecules:n.[化学]分子,微粒;[化学]摩尔(molecule的复数); slits:n.裂缝(slit的复数);[光]狭缝;v.使成狭缝;撕裂(slit的三单形式);
Everything is about smell for you. 对你来说,一切东西都是气味。
So one day, you stop in your tracks with a revelation . 某天,你停在路上,若有所思,
tracks:n.小道;足迹;车辙;轨道;v.追踪;跟踪;(track的第三人称单数和复数) revelation:n.披露; adj.暴露的;
You look at your human owner and you think, "What is it like to have the pitiful , impoverished nose of a human? 你看着你的人类主人,并想到, “拥有一只可怜的,几乎没什么用的人类鼻子会是怎样的情景？”
pitiful:adj.可怜的,令人同情的; impoverished:adj.穷困的;用尽了的,无创造性的;v.使贫困(impoverish的过去分词);
(Laughter) （笑声）
What is it like when you take a feeble little noseful of air? 只能微弱地嗅着空气,会是怎样的感觉？
feeble:adj.微弱的,无力的;虚弱的;薄弱的;
How can you not know that there's a cat 100 yards away, or that your neighbor was on this very spot six hours ago?" 你怎么能不知道100码之外有只猫, 或者你的邻居6小时前也在这个地方？“
(Laughter) （笑声）
So because we're humans, we've never experienced that world of smell, so we don't miss it, because we are firmly settled into our umwelt. 因为我们是人类, 我们从未感知过那个嗅觉世界, 所以我们不会怀念它, 因为我们坚定地生活在我们的”环境“中。
settled:adj.稳定的; v.结束; (settle的过去分词和过去式)
But the question is, do we have to be stuck there? 但问题是,我们必须困在这个 环境 中吗？
So as a neuroscientist , I'm interested in the way that technology might expand our umwelt, and how that's going to change the experience of being human. 作为一个神经学家,我对通过技术手段 拓宽我们的 环境 , 以及如何改变我们人类的体验,非常感兴趣。
neuroscientist:n.神经系统科学家; in the way:妨碍;挡道; technology:n.技术;工艺;术语; expand:v.扩张;使膨胀;详述;发展;张开,展开;
So we already know that we can marry our technology to our biology, because there are hundreds of thousands of people walking around with artificial hearing and artificial vision . 我们已经知道我们可以把技术和生物学相结合, 因为已经有成千上万的人 通过人造助听助视生活。
artificial:adj.人造的;仿造的;虚伪的;非原产地的;武断的; vision:n.视力;美景;幻象;想象力;v.想象;显现;梦见;
So the way this works is, you take a microphone and you digitize the signal, and you put an electrode strip directly into the inner ear . 它们的工作原理就是,拿一个话筒,将信号数字化, 把电极条放入内耳。
microphone:n.麦克风;传声器;话筒; digitize:vt.[计]数字化; electrode:n.[电]电极;电焊条; strip:n.带; v.夺; adj.脱衣舞的; directly:adv.直接地;立即;马上;正好地;坦率地;conj.一…就; inner ear:n.内耳;
Or, with the retinal implant , you take a camera and you digitize the signal, and then you plug an electrode grid directly into the optic nerve . 或者,通过视网膜植入,拿一个相机, 将信号数字化,然后把电极网格 直接插入视神经。
retinal:adj.视网膜的;n.[生化]视黄醛(等于retinene); implant:vt.种植;灌输;嵌入;n.[医]植入物;植入管;vi.被移植; plug:n.插头;塞子;栓;v.塞住;用插头将与电源接通; grid:n.网格;格子,栅格;输电网; optic:adj.光学的;视觉的;眼睛的;n.眼睛;镜片; nerve:n.神经;勇气;神经质;神经紧张;v.鼓足勇气;振作精神;
And as recently as 15 years ago, there were a lot of scientists who thought these technologies wouldn't work. 仅仅在在15年前, 许多科学家都还认为这些技术不会成功。
recently:adv.最近;新近; technologies:n.技术;科技(technology的复数);
Why? It's because these technologies speak the language of Silicon Valley , and it's not exactly the same dialect as our natural biological sense organs . 为什么？因为这些技术带有硅谷的风格, 与自然生物感官的原理并不完全一样。
Silicon Valley:n.硅谷(美国加利福尼亚州一处计算机和电子公司聚集地,有时用以指任何计算机公司聚集地); dialect:n.方言;地方话;土话; organs:n.[生物]器官;机构;风琴(organ的复数);
But the fact is that it works; the brain figures out how to use the signals just fine. 但事实是它成功了; 大脑知道怎么恰到好处的处理这些信号。
Now, how do we understand that? 那么我们怎么理解它呢？
Well, here's the big secret: 这是其中的秘密:
Your brain is not hearing or seeing any of this. 你的大脑并没有听或者看到任何东西。
Your brain is locked in a vault of silence and darkness inside your skull . 你的大脑被封闭在无声黑暗的脑壳中。
vault:n.金库,保险库;地下墓室;墓穴;拱顶;v.跳跃,腾跃; skull:n.头盖骨,脑壳;
All it ever sees are electrochemical signals that come in along different data cables , and this is all it has to work with, and nothing more. 它看到的一切都是电化学信号, 这些信号来自不同的数据连线, 这就是大脑要处理的全部东西,除此之外并无其他。
electrochemical:adj.[物化]电化学的;[物化]电气化学的; cables:n.缆绳;钢索;电缆;电报;v.发电报;(cable的第三人称单数和复数)
Now, amazingly, the brain is really good at taking in these signals and extracting patterns and assigning meaning, so that it takes this inner cosmos and puts together a story of this, your subjective world. 不可思议的是, 大脑很擅长于接受这些信号, 提取模式,赋予含义, 于是它形成了这种内部环境来整合信息, 并组成了你的主观世界。
extracting:n.提取;萃取;撷取;adj.拔出的(extract进行式); assigning:v.分派;设定(assign的ing形式); subjective:adj.主观的;个人的;自觉的;
But here's the key point: 但关键在于:
Your brain doesn't know, and it doesn't care, where it gets the data from. 你的大脑不知道,而且它也不在乎, 它是从哪里得到的信息。
Whatever information comes in, it just figures out what to do with it. 不管什么信息进入大脑,它都会做相应的处理。
And this is a very efficient kind of machine. 这是个非常有效的机器。
efficient:adj.有效率的;有能力的;生效的;
It's essentially a general purpose computing device , and it just takes in everything and figures out what it's going to do with it, and that, I think, frees up Mother Nature to tinker around with different sorts of input channels. 它本质上就是个普通的计算工具, 它只是接受一切信息, 然后做相应的处理, 我认为那使得大自然母亲得以解放, 而不用修补不同的输入渠道。
essentially:adv.本质上;本来; computing:n.计算;计算机技术;信息处理技术;v.计算;求出;(compute的现在分词) device:n.装置;策略;图案; Mother Nature:n.大自然;自然界; tinker:n.修补工;小炉匠,补锅匠,白铁匠;v.(尤指不起作用地)小修补,小修理; input:n.投入; v.把(数据等)输入计算机;
So I call this the P.H. model of evolution , and I don't want to get too technical here, but P.H. stands for Potato Head, and I use this name to emphasize that all these sensors 我称之为“P.H. 进化模型“, 这里我不想涉及太技术的层面, 但是P.H. 代表薯头, 我使用这个名称来强调所有
evolution:n.演变;进化;发展;渐进; technical:adj.工艺的,科技的;技术上的;专门的; emphasize:v.强调;重视;着重;使突出;
that we know and love, like our eyes and our ears and our fingertips, these are merely peripheral plug-and-play devices : 我们知道的以及热爱的传感器,像我们的眼睛,耳朵,以及指尖, 而这些仅仅是外围的即插即用的设备:
merely:adv.仅仅,只不过;只是; peripheral:adj.外围的;次要的;(神经)末梢区域的;n.外部设备; plug-and-play:n.一种不必经由用户复杂安装即可使用的软件,即插即用; devices:n.[机][计]设备;[机]装置;[电子]器件(device的复数);
You stick them in, and you're good to go. 插上它们,即可使用。
The brain figures out what to do with the data that comes in. 由大脑来处理所有输入的数据。
And when you look across the animal kingdom, you find lots of peripheral devices. 当你浏览动物王国, 你会发现很多外围设备。
So snakes have heat pits with which to detect infrared, and the ghost knifefish has electroreceptors , and the star-nosed mole has this appendage with 22 fingers on it 比如蛇的面部拥有能探测红外线的感热小坑, 魔鬼刀鱼有电接收器, 星鼻鼹鼠拥有 带有22个指头的附器,
pits:n.维修区(pit的复数); v.除去…的核; detect:vt.察觉;发现;探测; electroreceptors:n.电感受器;(electroreceptor的复数) appendage:n.附加物;下属;[动][解剖]附器(如植物的枝叶和动物的腿尾);
with which it feels around and constructs a 3D model of the world, and many birds have magnetite so they can orient to the magnetic field of the planet. 让它能感受周边环境并构建出三维世界, 许多鸟类拥有磁感应的本领,所以它们能够 通过地球的磁场确定方向。
constructs:n.构念(construct的复数);建筑物;构图;v.设计(construct的三单形式);建造; magnetite:n.磁铁矿; orient:vt.使适应;确定方向;使朝东;n.东方;东方诸国;adj.东方的;vi.向东; magnetic field:磁场;
So what this means is that nature doesn't have to continually redesign the brain. 因此这意味着大自然不必继续 重新设计大脑。
continually:adv.不断地;频繁地; redesign:vt.重新设计;n.重新设计;新设计;
Instead, with the principles of brain operation established , all nature has to worry about is designing new peripherals . 相反,随着大脑工作原理的建立, 大自然只需要设计新的外围设备。
principles:n.原则;主义;本质;政策;(principle的复数) established:adj.已确立的;著名的;v.建立;创立;设立;(establish的过去分词和过去式) peripherals:n.周边设备;[计]外围设备;
Okay. So what this means is this: 好的。那么这意味着:
The lesson that surfaces is that there's nothing really special or fundamental about the biology that we come to the table with. 有个显而易见的结论, 就是关于我们讨论的生物学 并没有涉及任何特殊或者基本的东西。
fundamental:n.基础; adj.十分重大的;
It's just what we have inherited from a complex road of evolution. 这一切仅仅是我们 从复杂进化旅程中继承的。
inherited:v.继承(金钱、财产等);接替(责任等);继任;(inherit的过去式和过去分词) complex:adj.复杂的;合成的;n.复合体;综合设施;
But it's not what we have to stick with, and our best proof of principle of this comes from what's called sensory substitution . 但是我们并非只能永远维持现状, 我们最好的佐证原理 来自我们所谓的感官替代。
proof:n.证据;证实;adj.能抵御;可防护; substitution:n.代替;[数]置换;代替物;
And that refers to feeding information into the brain via unusual sensory channels, and the brain just figures out what to do with it. 指通过特殊的感官渠道, 给大脑提供信息, 大脑就会自动做相应的处理。
refers:v.谈及;提到;提及;涉及;描述;(refer的第三人称单数) via:prep.通过;经由;n.道路;[医]管道;
Now, that might sound speculative , but the first paper demonstrating this was published in the journal Nature in 1969. 这听上去很抽象, 但是第一篇阐述上述原理的文章发表在1969年的《自然》杂志。
speculative:adj.投机的;推测的;思索性的; demonstrating:n.演示;v.证明;示威;显示;(demonstrate的现在分词) journal:n.杂志;日记;日志;(用于报纸名)…报;
So a scientist named Paul Bach-y-Rita put blind people in a modified dental chair, and he set up a video feed, and he put something in front of the camera, and then you would feel that poked into your back with a grid of solenoids . 一个叫做Paul Bach-y-Rita的科学家 把盲人置于一个改装过的牙科手术椅上, 并搭建了一个录像装置, 他在摄像机前放某个东西, 并在你背部垫上一个螺线管的网格, 这样你就可以感受到那个东西。
modified:adj.改进的,修改的;改良的;v.修改;缓和;(modify的过去分词); dental:n.牙医;[语]齿音;;adj.牙齿的;牙科的;齿音的; poked:v.捅,杵;推;捅;戳;探;伸出;探出(poke的过去分词和过去式) solenoids:n.[电]螺线管(solenoid的复数);
So if you wiggle a coffee cup in front of the camera, you're feeling that in your back, and amazingly, blind people got pretty good at being able to determine what was in front of the camera just by feeling it in the small of their back. 比如,如果你在相机前摆动一个咖啡杯, 就会通过背部感受到它, 而且令人惊讶的是,盲人很擅长于 仅仅通过背部的一小块的感受 来确定相机前的东西。
wiggle:v.扭动;摆动,起伏;n.摆动,摇动,起伏; determine:v.决定;确定;测定;查明;形成;影响;裁决;安排;
Now, there have been many modern incarnations of this. 如今,已经有许多基于上述原理的现代的实例。
incarnations:n.化身;道成肉身;典型;
The sonic glasses take a video feed right in front of you and turn that into a sonic landscape , so as things move around , and get closer and farther, it sounds like "Bzz, bzz, bzz." 声波眼镜在你面前录像, 并将录像变成声波地形, 当物体靠近,远离, 听上去就像“嗞嗞嗞”的声音。
sonic:adj.音速的;声音的;音波的; landscape:n.景观;乡村风景画;(文件的)横向打印格式;v.对…做景观美化;美化…的环境; move around:v.走来走去;绕着…来回转;
It sounds like a cacophony , but after several weeks, blind people start getting pretty good at understanding what's in front of them just based on what they're hearing. 虽然听上去很刺耳, 但是几周之后,盲人就开始很好地习惯 通过听觉信号, 来理解在他面前的事物。
cacophony:n.刺耳的音调;不和谐音;
And it doesn't have to be through the ears: this system uses an electrotactile grid on the forehead , so whatever's in front of the video feed, you're feeling it on your forehead. 而且不必通过耳朵: 这个系统使用前额的电触网格, 所以不管面前的录像是什么内容,你都可以通过前额感应到。
forehead:n.前额;
Why the forehead? Because you're not using it for much else. 为什么用前额？因为它平时基本没什么用处。
The most modern incarnation is called the brainport, and this is a little electrogrid that sits on your tongue, and the video feed gets turned into these little electrotactile signals, 最现代的例子是“brainport 视觉系统, 这是一个小的安置在舌头上的电网格, 视频源转变成小的电触信号,
and blind people get so good at using this that they can throw a ball into a basket, or they can navigate complex obstacle courses. 盲人很擅长使用这个装置,他们甚至能投篮, 或者通过的复杂障碍流程。
navigate:vt.驾驶,操纵;使通过;航行于;vi.航行,航空; obstacle:n.障碍;障碍物;阻碍;绊脚石;
They can come to see through their tongue. 他们通过舌头就可以看见东西。
see through:adj.透明的;穿透的;
Now, that sounds completely insane , right? 那听上去完全是荒谬的,对吧？
insane:adj.疯狂的;精神病的;极愚蠢的;
But remember, all vision ever is is electrochemical signals coursing around in your brain. 但是记住,所有看见的东西都是 流过大脑的电化学信号。
Your brain doesn't know where the signals come from. 你的大脑不知道信号来自哪里。
It just figures out what to do with them. 它只负责做相应的处理。
So my interest in my lab is sensory substitution for the deaf, and this is a project I've undertaken with a graduate student in my lab, Scott Novich, who is spearheading this for his thesis . 所以我的实验室的研究方向是为听障人士寻找感官替代, 这是我和我的一个研究生 Scott Novich负责的一个项目, 这也是他毕业论文的主攻方向。
undertaken:v.从事;开始进行(undertake的过去分词); spearheading:v.做…的先锋;带头做;领先突击;(spearhead的现在分词) thesis:n.论文;论点;
And here is what we wanted to do: we wanted to make it so that sound from the world gets converted in some way so that a deaf person can understand what is being said. 我们是这么计划的: 我们想要让来自外界的声音转变成 某种听障人士能够理解的信息。
converted:adj.修改的;改变信仰的;v.转变;改变信仰(convert的过去式和过去分词形式);
And we wanted to do this, given the power and ubiquity of portable computing, we wanted to make sure that this would run on cell phones and tablets , and also we wanted to make this a wearable , something that you could wear under your clothing. 考虑到移动设备的强大和普遍性,我们决定这么做, 我们想要确定这项技术可以在手机和平板电脑上运行, 我们还想把它设计成可穿戴设备, 可以穿戴在衣服里面。
ubiquity:n.普遍存在;到处存在; portable:adj.便携式的;手提的;轻便的;n.便携机;(尤指)手提电脑; tablets:n.药片;片剂;(固定于墙上作纪念的)牌,碑,匾;(tablet的第三人称单数和复数) wearable:adj.可穿用的,可佩带的;耐用的;n.衣服;
So here's the concept. 给大家展示一下工作原理。
So as I'm speaking, my sound is getting captured by the tablet, and then it's getting mapped onto a vest that's covered in vibratory motors, just like the motors in your cell phone. 当我讲话时,我的声音被平板电脑捕捉, 然后映射到带有震动马达的背心, 就像你手机里的驱动装置。
captured:adj.捕获的;被俘的;v.捕获;占领;引起;(capture的过去式和过去分词) vest:n.背心,汗衫;v.赋与; vibratory:adj.振动性的;震动的;
So as I'm speaking, the sound is getting translated to a pattern of vibration on the vest. 当我讲话时, 声音会转变为背心上的一种震动模式。
vibration:n.振动;犹豫;心灵感应;
Now, this is not just conceptual : this tablet is transmitting Bluetooth , and I'm wearing the vest right now. 这已经不仅仅是概念了: 这个平板电脑正在发射蓝牙信号,而且我正穿着这样的背心。
conceptual:adj.概念上的; transmitting:v.传送;输送;发射;传播;传染;(transmit的现在分词) Bluetooth:n.蓝牙技术(一种无线通信的标准);
So as I'm speaking -- (Applause) -- the sound is getting translated into dynamic patterns of vibration. 所以当我讲话时--（掌声）-- 声音就会被实时转变成震动模式。
dynamic:n.动力; adj.充满活力的;
I'm feeling the sonic world around me. 我正在感受周围的声波世界。
So, we've been testing this with deaf people now, and it turns out that after just a little bit of time, people can start feeling, they can start understanding the language of the vest. 现在我们正在听障人士身上进行测试, 结果表明,经过很短的时间, 人们就开始感觉到他们能够开始理解 背心的语言了。
So this is Jonathan. He's 37 years old. He has a master's degree. 这是Jonathan。他37岁,拥有硕士学位。
He was born profoundly deaf, which means that there's a part of his umwelt that's unavailable to him. 他生来就严重失聪, 这意味着他无法感受一部分“环境”。
profoundly:adv.深刻地;深深地;极度地; unavailable:adj.难以获得的;不能利用的;不近便的;
So we had Jonathan train with the vest for four days, two hours a day, and here he is on the fifth day. 我们让Jonathan穿着这个背心训练了4天,每天2小时, 这是第五天。
Scott Novich: You.
David Eagleman: So Scott says a word, Jonathan feels it on the vest, and he writes it on the board . David Eagleman:Scott说了一个单词,Jonathan通过背心感受到了,
on the board:在董事会,将在会上讨论;在那块木板上;
SN: Where. Where. SN:“哪里”。“哪里”。
DE: Jonathan is able to translate this complicated pattern of vibrations into an understanding of what's being said. DE:Jonathan能够把这种复杂的震动模式, 翻译成他自己的理解。
translate:v.翻译;被翻译;被译成;(使)转变; complicated:adj.复杂的;难懂的;v.使复杂化;(complicate的过去分词和过去式) vibrations:n.[力]振动;共鸣;动摇(vibration的复数);
SN: Touch. Touch. SN:“触摸”。“触摸”。
DE: Now, he's not doing this -- DE:他并没有——
(Applause) -- （掌声）--
Jonathan is not doing this consciously , because the patterns are too complicated, but his brain is starting to unlock the pattern that allows it to figure out what the data mean, Jonathan并没有刻意地去猜,因为这个模式太复杂, 但是他的大脑正在解锁这个模式,试图来理解 这些数据的意义,
consciously:adv.自觉地;有意识地;
and our expectation is that, after wearing this for about three months, he will have a direct perceptual experience of hearing in the same way that when a blind person passes a finger over braille , the meaning comes directly off the page without any conscious intervention at all. 我们的期望是,他能在穿这个背心约三个月后, 有一个直接的听觉感受经验, 就像盲人用手指阅读盲文那样, 文字的意义直接来自纸上,不需要任何有意识的干预。
expectation:n.预料;预期;期待;希望;指望; perceptual:adj.知觉的;感知的;有知觉的; braille:vt.用盲字印;n.布莱叶(法国盲人教育家);盲人用点字法; intervention:n.介入;调停;妨碍;
Now, this technology has the potential to be a game-changer, because the only other solution for deafness is a cochlear implant, and that requires an invasive surgery . 这项技术拥有改变游戏规则的潜力, 因为唯一其他的帮助听障人士的方法就是耳蜗植入, 而那需要进行侵害性的手术。
potential:n.潜能;可能性;[电]电势;adj.潜在的;可能的;势的; solution:n.解决方案;溶液;溶解;解答; deafness:n.聋;听力不佳; cochlear:adj.耳蜗的; invasive:adj.侵略性的;攻击性的; surgery:n.外科;外科手术;手术室;诊疗室;
And this can be built for 40 times cheaper than a cochlear implant, which opens up this technology globally, even for the poorest countries. 而这项技术比耳蜗植入便宜40倍, 它打开了全球技术市场,甚至包括贫困国家。
Now, we've been very encouraged by our results with sensory substitution, but what we've been thinking a lot about is sensory addition . 现在我们受到了感官替代实验结果的极大鼓舞, 但是我们一直在思考的是感官附加。
addition:n.添加;[数]加法;增加物;
How could we use a technology like this to add a completely new kind of sense, to expand the human umvelt? 我们如何使用这样的技术来增加一种全新的感官, 来拓展人类的“环境”？
For example, could we feed real-time data from the Internet directly into somebody's brain, and can they develop a direct perceptual experience? 例如,我们可以从网上得到实时数据, 直接反馈给大脑, 这些信息可以产生直接的感知体验吗？
real-time:adj.实时的;接到指示立即执行的;
So here's an experiment we're doing in the lab. 这是我们实验室正在做的一个实验。
A subject is feeling a real-time streaming feed from the Net of data for five seconds. 一名实验对象正在感受数据网实时的信息流, 这种信息流会持续5秒。
Then, two buttons appear, and he has to make a choice. 然后屏幕上会出现两个按钮,他必须选择一个。
He doesn't know what's going on. 他并不知道发生了什么。
He makes a choice, and he gets feedback after one second. 他做出一个选择,一秒后得到反馈。
feedback:n.反馈;反馈意见;回授;[电子]反馈;
Now, here's the thing: 是这样的:
The subject has no idea what all the patterns mean, but we're seeing if he gets better at figuring out which button to press. 实验对象并不知道所有模式的意义, 但是我们想要看看,他是否能搞清楚应该按哪个按钮。
He doesn't know that what we're feeding is real-time data from the stock market , and he's making buy and sell decisions. 他不知道我们提供的信息 是来自股市的实时数据, 他要做的是买入和卖出的决策。
stock market:股票市场;证券市场;股票交易;
(Laughter) （笑声）
And the feedback is telling him whether he did the right thing or not. 反馈会告诉他他的决定是否正确。
And what we're seeing is, can we expand the human umvelt so that he comes to have, after several weeks, a direct perceptual experience of the economic movements of the planet. 我们在观察的是,我们是否能拓宽人类的“环境”, 以便他在几周之后能有 一个直接的关于全球经济活动的感知体验。
economic:adj.经济的,经济上的;经济学的;
So we'll report on that later to see how well this goes. 我们稍后会报导这个实验的进展。
(Laughter) （笑声）
Here's another thing we're doing: 下面是我们做的另一个实验:
During the talks this morning, we've been automatically scraping Twitter for the TED2015 hashtag , and we've been doing an automated sentiment analysis , which means, are people using positive words or negative words or neutral ? 在今早的演讲中,我们一直在自动的刷取 TED2015主题标签的推特, 一直在做自动的情绪分析, 也就是:人们是用正面,负面还是中性的词（来表达他们的感想）？
automatically:adv.自动地;机械地;无意识地;adj.不经思索的; scraping:n.刮屑;削片;v.刮掉;削去;刮坏;(scrape的现在分词) hashtag:n.标签; automated:adj.自动化的;v.(使)自动化;(automate的过去式和过去分词) sentiment:n.感情,情绪;情操;观点;多愁善感; analysis:n.分析;分解;验定; positive:adj.积极的;[数]正的,[医][化学]阳性的;确定的;n.正数;[摄]正片; negative:adj.[数]负的;消极的;否定的;阴性的;n.否定;负数;[摄]底片;v.否定;拒绝; neutral:n.中立国; adj.中立的;
And while this has been going on, 实验进行过程中,
I have been feeling this, and so I am plugged in to the aggregate emotion of thousands of people in real time , and that's a new kind of human experience, because now I can know how everyone's doing and how much you're loving this. 我就能感受到, 这意味着我与数千人的实时情绪 汇总信息进行了对接, 那是一种全新的人类体验,因为我能知道 每个人心情如何,以及你们多么喜欢这个演讲。
plugged:v.堵塞;封堵;补充;供给;推广;(plug的过去分词和过去式) aggregate:vi.集合; vt.集合; n.合计; adj.聚合的; emotion:n.强烈的感情;激情;情感; real time:adj.实时的;接到指示立即执行的;
(Laughter) (Applause) （笑声）（掌声）
It's a bigger experience than a human can normally have. 这比人类能够正常体验的范围要大的多。
normally:adv.正常地;通常地,一般地;
We're also expanding the umvelt of pilots. 我们也在拓宽飞行员的“环境”。
expanding:v.扩大,增加,增强细谈;详述;(expand的现在分词)
So in this case, the vest is streaming nine different measures from this quadcopter, so pitch and yaw and roll and orientation and heading, and that improves this pilot's ability to fly it. 在这个实例中,背心可以分流来自这个直升机的 九种不同的测试方式, 倾斜,偏航,起伏,定向,前进, 这提高了飞行员的飞行能力。
pitch:v.抛:用力扔:针对:触地:n.场地:程度:力度:推销的话:纵摇: orientation:n.方向;定向;适应;情况介绍;向东方; improves:v.改进;改善;(improve的第三人称单数)
It's essentially like he's extending his skin up there, far away. 就好像把他的皮肤延伸到了很远的地方。
extending:v.使伸长;扩大;扩展;延长;(extend的现在分词)
And that's just the beginning. 而这仅仅是开头。
What we're envisioning is taking a modern cockpit full of gauges and instead of trying to read the whole thing, you feel it. 我们预想的是驾驶一个遍布仪表的现代驾驶舱, 不用去目测那些数据,而是直接感受它。
envisioning:想像,展望(envision的现在分词); cockpit:n.驾驶员座舱;战场; gauges:n.计量表,仪表; v.计量;
We live in a world of information now, and there is a difference between accessing big data and experiencing it. 我们生活在一个信息化的世界, 获得大数据和感受它 是截然不同的。
So I think there's really no end to the possibilities on the horizon for human expansion . 所以我认为拓宽人类的感官 拥有无尽的可能。
horizon:n.地平线;(欲望、知识或兴趣的)范围; expansion:n.扩张;膨胀;扩展;扩大;
Just imagine an astronaut being able to feel the overall health of the International Space Station , or, for that matter, having you feel the invisible states of your own health, 设想一个宇航员可以感受 整个国际空间站的健康状况, 或者,你可以直接感受本不可见的健康状况,
overall:v.全部; n.外套; adj.全面的; Space Station:n.太空站;航天站;宇宙空间站; invisible:adj.看不见的;n.看不见的人或物;
like your blood sugar and the state of your microbiome, or having 360-degree vision or seeing in infrared or ultraviolet. 如你的血糖,微生物状态, 或者拥有360度视角,或者能看见红外或紫外线。
blood sugar:n.血糖;
So the key is this: As we move into the future, we're going to increasingly be able to choose our own peripheral devices. 所以关键点是:在我们步入未来的过程中, 我们逐渐能够选择自己的外围设备。
increasingly:adv.越来越多地;渐增地;
We no longer have to wait for Mother Nature's sensory gifts on her timescales , but instead, like any good parent, she's given us the tools that we need to go out and define our own trajectory . 我们不必等待大自然母亲按照她自己的时间尺度和节奏来 赐予我们感官的礼物。 相反,就像任何称职的家长,她已经给了我们需要的工具, 让我们能够走出来定义自己的人生轨迹。
timescales:n.时标;时间量程(timescale的复数); define:v.定义;使明确;规定; trajectory:n.[物]轨道,轨线;[航][军]弹道;
So the question now is, how do you want to go out and experience your universe? 所以现在的问题是, 你想要如何走出来,感受你的宇宙？
Thank you. 谢谢。
(Applause) （掌声）
Chris Anderson: Can you feel it? DE: Yeah. Chris Anderson:你能感受到吗？DE:当然。
Actually, this was the first time I felt applause on the vest. 说实话,这是我第一次通过背心感受掌声。
applause:n.欢呼,喝采;鼓掌欢迎;
It's nice. It's like a massage . (Laughter) 太棒了。就像按摩。（笑声）
massage:v.按摩;推拿;用…揉擦(皮肤,头发等);美化(事实);n.按摩;
CA: Twitter's going crazy. Twitter's going mad. CA:推特网友太疯狂了。
So that stock market experiment. 说一下那个股市的实验。
This could be the first experiment that secures its funding forevermore , right, if successful? 这可能是第一个能确保被永久资助的实验, 对吗,如果能成功的话？
funding:n.基金;资金;提供资金;v.为…提供资金;拨款给;(fund的现在分词) forevermore:adv.永远地;
DE: Well, that's right, I wouldn't have to write to NIH anymore. DE:对的,我不必再向NIH（美国国家卫生研究院）申请经费了。
CA: Well look, just to be skeptical for a minute , CA:我还是有些疑惑,
skeptical:adj.怀疑的;怀疑论的,不可知论的; for a minute:一会儿;
I mean, this is amazing, but isn't most of the evidence so far that sensory substitution works, not necessarily that sensory addition works? 这的确很棒,不过目前大部分实验证据是不是都表明 虽然感官替代能起作用, 却不一定代表感官附加能起作用？
evidence:n.证据,证明;迹象;明显;v.证明; necessarily:adv.必要地;必定地,必然地;
I mean, isn't it possible that the blind person can see through their tongue because the visual cortex is still there, ready to process , and that that is needed as part of it? 我的意思是,盲人能通过舌头看东西,是不是可能 因为视皮质还在那里,时刻准备处理信息, 而且那就是其中必要的一部分？
visual:adj.视觉的,视力的;栩栩如生的; cortex:n.[解剖]皮质;树皮;果皮; process:v.处理;加工;列队行进;n.过程,进行;方法,adj.经过特殊加工(或处理)的;
DE: That's a great question. We actually have no idea what the theoretical limits are of what kind of data the brain can take in. DE:这问题很好。实际上我们也不知道 什么样的数据大脑才能吸收,关于这个的理论局限是什么。
theoretical:adj.理论的;理论上的;假设的;推理的;
The general story, though, is that it's extraordinarily flexible . 然而,总体上可以认为大脑非常灵活。
extraordinarily:adv.非常;格外地;非凡地; flexible:adj.灵活的;柔韧的;易弯曲的;
So when a person goes blind, what we used to call their visual cortex gets taken over by other things, by touch, by hearing, by vocabulary. 所以当一个人变盲之后,唤醒视皮质的任务 会被其他东西接管,如触觉,听觉,词汇。
So what that tells us is that the cortex is kind of a one-trick pony . 这告诉我们皮质就像只会一种把戏的小马驹。
pony:n.矮种马;小型马;adj.小型的;每日摘要的;v.付清;
It just runs certain kinds of computations on things. 它只是按某几种特定的计算方式运行。
computations:n.[数]计算;计算指令(computation的复数形式);
And when we look around at things like braille, for example, people are getting information through bumps on their fingers. 例如,当我们看盲文的时候, 人们通过指尖下的凹凸获得信息。
bumps:碰撞(bump的第三人称单数);碰撞(bump的复数);
So I don't thing we have any reason to think there's a theoretical limit that we know the edge of. 因此,我不认为我们有任何理由要相信我们的认知边缘 存在一个理论上的限制。
CA: If this checks out, you're going to be deluged . CA:如果这个技术实现了,你肯定会一夜爆红。
deluged:n.洪水;泛滥;暴雨;vt.使泛滥;压倒;
There are so many possible applications for this. 这项技术有太多潜在的应用了。
Are you ready for this? What are you most excited about, the direction it might go? 你准备好了吗？最让你兴奋的是什么？是未来的方向吗？
DE: I mean, I think there's a lot of applications here. DE:我认为这可以有许多应用。
In terms of beyond sensory substitution, the things I started mentioning about astronauts on the space station, they spend a lot of their time monitoring things, and they could instead just get what's going on, because what this is really good for is multidimensional data. 除了我开始提到的感官替代, 关于空间站的宇航员,他们花了很多时间 监测各种东西,相反他们可以直接知道进展, 因为这有利于获得多维数据。
multidimensional:adj.[数]多维的;多面的;
The key is this: Our visual systems are good at detecting blobs and edges, but they're really bad at what our world has become, which is screens with lots and lots of data. 关键点是:我们的视觉系统善于探测障碍和边缘, 但是它们并不擅长观察我们目前的世界, 一个充满大量数据的屏幕的世界。
detecting:n.检测;检定;v.发现;探知(detect的现在分词);adj.探测的; blobs:n.斑点(blob的复数);v.溅污(blob的三单形式);
We have to crawl that with our attentional systems. 我们得用注意力系统匍匐前进。
crawl:v.爬;匍匐行进;(昆虫)爬行;缓慢行进;n.爬泳;缓慢的速度;自由泳; attentional:adj.注意的;保养的;
So this is a way of just feeling the state of something, just like the way you know the state of your body as you're standing around. 这是感知事物状态的一种方法, 就像当你站立时你知道自己身体状态的方法一样。
So I think heavy machinery , safety, feeling the state of a factory, of your equipment, that's one place it'll go right away . 所以我认为重型机械、安全机制,了解一个工厂的状态, 了解你的设备的状态,这就是这项技术即将要实现的。
machinery:n.机械;机器;机构;机械装置; right away:立刻;
CA: David Eagleman, that was one mind-blowing talk. Thank you very much. CA:David Eagleman,这真是一个激动人心的演讲。非常感谢。
mind-blowing:adj.使兴奋的;引起幻觉的;
DE: Thank you, Chris. (Applause) DE:谢谢你,Chris。（掌声）