VOA慢速英语: 智能手机将来能发送味道、嗅觉或触摸感吗？

Can Smartphones Send Tastes, Smells, Touch Someday?
将来某一天，智能手机可以发送味觉、嗅觉和触觉吗？

Scientists in Britain say they are close to creating additions for our smartphones that will make it possible to send taste, smell and even a basic touch.

We can express thoughts and feelings and send sounds and pictures on our smartphones today. We also communicate using programs like Skype and Face Time. We can't send tastes, smells or touch, of course. But scientists in Britain are trying to develop a way for smartphones to do just that.
如今我们可以用智能手机发送声音和图片来表达我们的想法和感觉。我们使用Skype和Face Time来进行交流。当然，我们没办法传达味觉、嗅觉或者触觉。但是英国的科学家正尝试研发一款能够这样做的智能手机。
Adrian David Cheok is a professor at City University in London. He wants people to experience communication using all of their senses.
阿德里安·大卫·切克是伦敦城市大学的教授。他希望人们能够使用各种感官来进行交流。
"In the real world, we can open up the glass, open the window. We can touch, we can taste, we can smell in the real world."
“在真实世界，我们打开杯子、窗户。我们能够触摸东西、品尝食物、闻气味。”
To give users a sense of taste, researchers designed two electrodes that are placed on the tongue. A chemical process creates different tastes through molecules on the surface of the tongue. This chemical process sends electrical signals that convince the brain that a person is tasting something. They have already created sour, salty, sweet and bitter tastes.
为了让用户能够有种味觉，研究者设计了两个能够放在舌头上的电极片。一种化学过程能够通过舌头表面分子产生不同的味觉。化学过程将发送电极信号，这样大脑就能让人感知到味觉。他们已经创造出来酸、咸、甜和苦的味道。
"You put these two silver electrodes in your mouth, you put your tongue in between and then it stimulates electrically your tongue and you get a virtual taste perception in your brain."
“你把这两块银质电极放在嘴中，将舌头夹在电极中间，然后电会刺激舌头，在大脑中就会产生以后总虚拟的味觉。”
A device called "Scentee" permits users to have the sense of smell. Scentee plugs into a smartphone and can spray tiny clouds of fragrances, including flowers, fruits and coffee. Professor Cheok says the person speaking can activate the device.
一款叫做“Scentee”的设备能够让使用者感知到嗅觉。Scentee放入智能手机中，能够喷洒出一种薄薄的香雾，包括花香、水果香和咖啡香。切克教授说人们讲话就能够激活这款设备。
"Basically what happens, we have an app, it connects to the Internet and then this will release a scent from your mobile phone."
“基本上原理就是这样：一款应用程序能够连接互联网，然后通过手机释放出一种味道。”
Scentee holds a container with about 100 different smells. The container must be replaced when all the scents run out.
Scentee里包含有大约100种不同的气味容器，这个当所有的香味散发玩之后，必须换掉这个容器。
The sense of touch comes from a ring-like device. It is connected wirelessly to the smartphone. The device sends a soft, electrical squeeze when a person on the other end of a telephone conversation does the same. Professor Cheok says this permits a kind of wireless touch communication.
触摸感来自于戒指一样的设备，与手机可以实现无线连接。当电话另一头的通话者的动作一致时，这个装置会发送轻柔的电挤压。切克教授表示，这使得无线触觉沟通成为可能。
"I can be in London and my friend can be in Tokyo, and I can squeeze my finger and then they'll get a squeeze on their finger through the Internet. It's a way of touch communication with small mobile devices."
“我待在伦敦，而我的朋友可以在日本，我挤手指，然后通过互联网，我也能够触摸到他们挤压手指。这是一种使用移动设备实现触摸交流的一种方式。”
Professor Cheok says he hopes devices like these will someday be added to houses. He says they may change the future of long-distance communication.
切克教授称他希望像这样的设备未来某一天能够装在家里，这也许会改变未来远距离的沟通交流。
I'm Jonathan Evans.
我是乔纳森·伊凡斯。
VOA Correspondent George Putic reported this story from Washington. Jonathan Evans wrote it in VOA Learning English. He also read and produced the program. Christopher Cruise edited the story.
______________________________________________________________
Words in This Story
activate – v. to cause a device to start working
electrode – n. one of the two points through which electricity flows into or out of a battery or other device
fragrance – n. a pleasant and usually sweet smell
Do you want a smartphone that can send and receive tastes, smells and touch? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the comments section.