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Smart cars that can see, hear, feel, smell, and talk? And drive on their own? This may sound like a dream, but the computer revolution is set to turn it into a reality.
能看、能聽、有知覺、具嗅覺、會說話的智能汽車？還能自動駕駛？這聽起來或許像是在做夢，但計算機革命正致力于把這一切變為現實。
Smart Cars
Michio Kaku
1 Even the automobile industry, which has remained largely unchanged for the last seventy years, is about to feel the effects of the computer revolution.
智能汽車
米其奧·卡庫
即便是過去70年間基本上沒有多少變化的汽車工業，也將感受到計算機革命的影響。
2 The automobile industry ranks as among the most lucrative and powerful industries of the twentieth century. There are presently 500 million cars on earth, or one car for every ten people. Sales of the automobile industry stand at about a trillion dollars, making it the world's biggest manufacturing industry.
汽車工業是20世紀最賺錢、最有影響力的產業之一。目前世界上有5億輛車，或者說每10人就有1輛車。汽車工業的銷售額達一萬億美元左右，從而成為世界上最大的制造業。
3 The car, and the roads it travels on, will be revolutionized in the twenty-first century. The key to tomorrow's "smart cars" will be sensors. "We'll see vehicles and roads that see and hear and feel and smell and talk and act," predicts Bill Spreitzer, technical director of General Motors Corporation's ITS program, which is designing the smart car and road of the future.
汽車及其行駛的道路，將在21世紀發生重大變革。未來“智能汽車”的關鍵在于傳感器。“我們會見到能看、能聽、有知覺、具嗅覺、會說話并能采取行動的車輛與道路，”正在設計未來智能汽車和智能道路的通用汽車公司ITS項目的技術主任比爾·斯普雷扎預言道。
4 Approximately 40,000 people are killed each year in the United States in traffic accidents. The number of people that are killed or badly injured in car accidents is so vast that we don't even bother to mention them in the newspapers anymore. Fully half of these fatalities come from drunk drivers, and many others from carelessness. A smart car could eliminate most of these car accidents. It can sense if a driver is drunk via electronic sensors that can pick up alcohol vapor in the air, and refuse to start up the engine. The car could also alert the police and provide its precise location if it is stolen.
美國每年有大約4萬人死于交通事故。在汽車事故中死亡或嚴重受傷的人數太多，我們已經不屑在報紙上提及。這些死亡的人中至少有半數是酒后開車者造成的，另有許多死亡事故是駕駛員不小心所導致。智能汽車能消除絕大多數這類汽車事故。它能通過會感測空氣中的酒精霧氣的電子傳感器檢測開車者是否喝醉酒，并拒絕啟動引擎。這種車還能在遇竊后通報警方，告知車輛的確切地點。
5 Smart cars have already been built which can monitor one's driving and the driving conditions nearby. Small radars hidden in the bumpers can scan for nearby cars. Should you make a serious driving mistake (e.g., change lanes when there is a car in your "blind spot") the computer would sound an immediate warning. 能監控行車過程以及周圍行車狀況的智能汽車已經建造出來。藏在保險杠里的微型雷達能對周圍的汽車作掃描。如果你發生重大行車失誤（如變道時有車輛你“盲點”內），計算機立即會發出警報。
6 At the MIT Media Lab, a prototype is already being built which will determine how sleepy you are as you drive, which is especially important for long-distance truck drivers. The monotonous, almost hypnotic process of staring at the center divider for long hours is a grossly underestimated, life-threatening hazard. To eliminate this, a tiny camera hidden in the dashboard can be trained on a driver's face and eyes. If the driver's eyelids close for a certain length of time and his or her driving becomes erratic, a computer in the dashboard could alert the driver.
在麻省理工學院媒介實驗室，業已制造出能測知你行車時有多少睡意的樣車，這對長途卡車司機意義尤其重要。一連數小時注視著中夾分道線這樣一個單調、幾乎能催眠的過程是被嚴重低估的威脅生命的重大隱患。為消除這一隱患，藏在儀表板里的一架微型相機可對準開車者的臉部及眼睛。如果司機的眼簾合上一定時間，行車變得不穩，儀表板里的計算機就會向司機發出警報。
