VOA常速英语2015--高科技让"空气吉他"成为可能

Advanced Technology Turns 'Air Guitar' Into Real Instrument 高科技让"空气吉他"成为可能

Learning to play guitar requires a lot of practice, perseverance¹ and, at least in the beginning, painful blisters² on fingers.

学习弹吉他需要勤加练习，不折不挠，至少要在初期忍受手指的水疱。

Playing the "air guitar" by mimicking³ a musician's fingering and strumming motions is a lot easier and can be a lot of fun, but does not produce any sound.

然而，弹奏“空气吉他”就要容易得多，趣味性更强，但就是没声。

Now, researchers from Goldsmiths, University of London and the University of Sussex used gesture recognition technology to build a digital instrument — the Kurv "stringless" guitar — that turns the air guitar motions into music.

如今，来自伦敦大学金史密斯学院，以及萨塞克斯大学的研究人员利用手势识别技术制作了一台电子乐器，它能将玩家手势转化为音乐。

“What we've done," said Suran Goonatilake, co-founder of Kurv Music, "is take a whole bunch of different sensors⁴, accelerometers, gyroscopes, magnetometers, pressure-sensitive stuff, and then combine that with a mobile phone, which has the computational power to actually drive real-time music synthesis.”

我们利用大量传感器、加速计、陀螺仪、磁力计以及微压精密传感技术，并与手机相连，产生真实的音乐效果。

A small pad with eight buttons fits neatly⁵ into the palm of the left hand, while the strumming hand holds an oversized electronic pick. By pressing the buttons, the player chooses chords, which can be played with the strumming motion of the right hand.

左手为手掌型8键“键盘”，弹奏手手握“大型”拨片。弹奏者可以通过按键的方式选择和弦，右手进行“空中弹奏”。

“So we mapped out the entire guitar and bass⁶ fretboard, and we did acoustic⁷ and electric guitar," said Kurv Music's Jack⁸ Fuller. "And we did single notes and chords, and the total, I think, came to well over a thousand samples. So there's a huge amount of possibility.”

我们按照吉他和指板设计，我们还制作了原声和电音吉他。单一音符和和弦，以及上千首选录乐曲。可能性无限大。

With just a few minutes of practice, someone who has never played a guitar can learn to play a simple riff.

只需要几分钟练习，没弹过吉他的玩家也能够弹奏重复乐章。

我不认为我能做到，但是我做到了。这太棒了。

The Kurv guitar plays through a smartphone or a tablet via Bluetooth, freeing the headphone jack for connection to an amplifier.“Kurv Guitar”

可以通过蓝牙在智能手机或平板中演奏，无需连接扩音器。

Players can choose from three instruments — electric, acoustic and bass guitar — and the pick is sensitive to the intensity⁹ of the strumming motion.

玩家能够选择多种音色，原声、电音以及重低音，拨片会感应弹奏者的弹奏力度。

Its inventors are currently crowdsourcing funds for mass production, planned to begin in March 2016.

投资人正在大量筹集资金，准备于2016年3月投入大规模生产。

1 perseverance   

n.坚持不懈，不屈不挠

参考例句：

• It may take some perseverance to find the right people.要找到合适的人也许需要有点锲而不舍的精神。
• Perseverance leads to success.有恒心就能胜利。

2 blisters   

n.水疱( blister的名词复数 )；水肿；气泡

参考例句：

• My new shoes have made blisters on my heels. 我的新鞋把我的脚跟磨起泡了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• His new shoes raised blisters on his feet. 他的新鞋把他的脚磨起了水疱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 mimicking   

v.（尤指为了逗乐而）模仿( mimic的现在分词 )；酷似

参考例句：

• She's always mimicking the teachers. 她总喜欢模仿老师的言谈举止。
• The boy made us all laugh by mimicking the teacher's voice. 这男孩模仿老师的声音，逗得我们大家都笑了。 来自辞典例句

4 sensors   

n.传感器，灵敏元件( sensor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There were more than 2000 sensors here. 这里装有两千多个灵敏元件。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Significant changes have been noted where sensors were exposed to trichloride. 当传感器暴露在三氯化物中时，有很大变化。 来自辞典例句

5 neatly   

adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地

参考例句：

• Sailors know how to wind up a long rope neatly.水手们知道怎样把一条大绳利落地缠好。
• The child's dress is neatly gathered at the neck.那孩子的衣服在领口处打着整齐的皱褶。

6 bass   

n.男低音(歌手)；低音乐器；低音大提琴

参考例句：

• He answered my question in a surprisingly deep bass.他用一种低得出奇的声音回答我的问题。
• The bass was to give a concert in the park.那位男低音歌唱家将在公园中举行音乐会。

7 acoustic   

adj.听觉的，声音的；(乐器)原声的

参考例句：

• The hall has a fine acoustic.这个大厅的传音效果很好。
• Animals use a whole rang of acoustic, visual,and chemical signals in their systems of communication.动物利用各种各样的听觉、视觉和化学信号来进行交流。

8 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

9 intensity   

n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度

参考例句：

• I didn't realize the intensity of people's feelings on this issue.我没有意识到这一问题能引起群情激奋。
• The strike is growing in intensity.罢工日益加剧。