Bike Helmet Meets Black Box
自行车头盔变身“黑匣子”
A future smart bike helmet can track the rider's motion, determine if a crash was likely and call for help if the rider is incapacitated. Larry Greenemeier reports
未来的智能自行车头盔能时时检测骑车人的运动状态,判断是否可能发生事故,还能在紧急之时为骑车人发出求助信号。
撰文 拉里•格林迈耶(Larry Greenemeier)
翻译 吴东远
审校 李轩
Bike helmets of the future will do more than just protect your noggin in a crash. They’ll also check whether you could have a concussion, call for help and act as a black box for accident investigators.
未来的自行车头盔不只是可以在事故时保护一下你的脑袋,它们还可以检测你的头部是否受到猛烈冲撞,是否需要发出求助信号。它们将成为你骑车时的“黑匣子”。
At least that’s what they’ll do if the prototype smart helmet that Intel and Oregon State University are working on ever hits the road.
现在,因特尔和俄勒冈州立大学开发的智能头盔原型产品,在撞击到路面时可以实现上述的功能。
Oregon State undergrads and Intel interns designed a helmet that uses an embedded gyroscope and two accelerometers to determine if a cyclist might have been in a crash. It also has an embedded magnetometer, speakers, Bluetooth and a microphone for hands-free communication. And there’s a headlamp to help you avoid accidents in the first place.
俄勒冈州立大学的本科生和因特尔公司的实习生共同设计了这款头盔,头盔内置了陀螺仪和加速度传感器,以此来确定骑车人是否发生了事故。头盔中还内置了磁力计、扬声器、蓝牙和一个用于免提通话的麦克风。此外,头盔还加装了头灯为你护航。
Intel is known as a chipmaker, but it also dabbles in experimental gadgets. Well before smartphones and tablets ruled the world, the company showed me a laptop with a mini window on the outside cover that let you check e-mail. More recently, they've been working with an M.I.T. spinoff to develop wireless mobile device chargers.
因特尔公司以制造芯片闻名于世,但它也涉足一些前卫的小玩意。在智能手机和平板电脑“统治”世界之前,这家公司曾展示过一款在外表面有一个迷你窗口的笔记本电脑,这个窗口可以让你检查新邮件。最近,因特尔一直在与麻省理工学院(MIT)分部进行合作,开发手机的无线充电器。
This latest effort could be the most important of all in terms of impact. Or dealing with the same.
论影响力,这款新型智能头盔绝对可以称得上是一款空前的成果。