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Wearable computing
可穿戴的計算設備
The eyes have it
眼睛將擁有谷歌眼鏡
Google advances its plan to bring smart glasses to the masses
谷歌提出在普通民眾中推廣智能眼鏡的計劃
GOOGLE has an ambitious vision for spectacles.
谷歌有一個針對眼鏡的雄心勃勃的看法。
On June 27th Sergey Brin, one of the company's co-founders, revealed the next stage of Project Glass,its effort to create wireless-connected glasses that allow their wearers to do a host of things,
6月27日，公司聯合創始人之一的Sergey Brin揭露了下一階段的眼鏡項目，他試圖研發無線連接方式眼鏡使佩戴者可以做大量的事情，
including receiving and responding to messages, and taking and sharing photos and videos.
包括收發短信，拍攝、分享照片及視頻。
The goal is to get prototypes in the hands of software developers early next year and then to sell a more polished set of specs to consumers in late 2013 or early the following year.
項目的目標是在明年初可以使軟件開發者拿到樣品，2013年下半年或2014年初向消費者出售更加精美的眼鏡。
A product of Google's secretive X Lab, whose mission is to push the boundaries of computing, the glasses were on show at the company's developer conference in San Francisco along with several other gizmos,
谷歌神秘的X實驗室的任務是推進計算設備的邊界，這種眼鏡作為其產品之一在位于舊金山召開的谷歌開發者大會被展示，
including a cheap tablet computer and a new wireless media player for the home.
同時展出的還包括一種廉價平板電腦和家用無線播放器等小發明。
These gadgets attracted plenty of attention,
這些小玩意吸引了眾多的關注，
but the longest queues at the event were at booths where folk were trying on Google's goggles.
但最受關注的地方是在那些民眾嘗試谷歌眼鏡的展位。
That is hardly surprising because the glasses seem like something out of a science-fiction novel.
這不足為奇，因為這種眼鏡看起來就像是科幻小說中的物品。
A tiny transparent display towards the top of one lens allows wearers to see text and images by glancing upwards.
一個很小的透明的播放顯示裝置位于鏡片的頂端，它使佩戴者可以通過向斜上方觀看來瀏覽文字和圖片。
And the spectacles can be controlled using either voice commands or a somewhat bulky touchpad integrated into one of the arms.
這種眼鏡可以通過語音控制，也可以通過一種固定到手臂上的大體積觸摸屏控制。
Mr Brin says the goal is to get technology out of the way,
Brin先生表示，他們的目標是使技術變得與眾不同，
so people can, say, take videos without having to pull out a camera or smartphone each time they do so.
比如人們可以拍攝視頻而不必每次都取出照相機或者智能手機。
Google's glasses reflect a growing interest in wearable computing, which many experts think could be the next big thing in personal technology after smartphones and tablets.
谷歌眼鏡反應了人們對可穿戴計算設備與日俱增的興趣，許多專家認為這可能是繼智能手機和平板電腦后的又一個重大產品。
But some tech veterans give warning that designing novel devices people feel comfortable wearing is an especially tricky task.
但一些資深技術人士警告說設計使人們配戴舒服的新奇設備是一件非常棘手的工作。
In general, the first attempt at producing new computing paradigms rarely sticks, notes Sumeet Jain of CMEA Capital, a venture-capital firm.
風險投資公司CMEA Capital的Sumeet Jain說道：總體來說，設計新計算設備的首次嘗試很少會取得成功。
If Google's glasses are to prove an exception to that rule, the firm will have to meet several challenges.
如果谷歌的眼鏡想打破常規，谷歌公司必須迎接一些挑戰。
One is to refine their design so that wearers don't look like nerds from a laboratory.
一是必須完善他們的設計，使配戴者看起來并不像實驗室出來的書呆子。
Another is to assuage inevitable concerns around privacy that the glasses will raise.
另一個挑戰就是解決眼鏡必然帶來的隱私問題。
The firm will also need to reassure people their eyeballs won't be blitzed with advertising, which is Google's preferred way to mint money.
它還需要消除人們的疑慮，使他們的眼球不會陷入廣告大戰，而這正是谷歌喜歡的撈金方式。
Mr Brin stresses the aim is to make a profit on the glasses themselves, whose mass-market price will be well below the 1,500 developers are paying for a pair.
Brin先生強調他們的目標是通過眼鏡本身來盈利，眼鏡是市場價將會適當低于開發者的購買價格1500美元。
That should make them worth a close look.
這會使得谷歌眼鏡更易于被消費者接受。
