第41课（398字 2分钟）

Passage Forty-one

（K4 level）

1. Imagine having a bedroom that interacts with you.

2. If you’re sad, it will arrange for some of your friends to come over to cheer you up.

3. If you’re happy, it might respond by playing your favorite game with you.

4. Does it sound like something out of a science-fiction movie? Well, it’s really something out of the Georgia Institute of Technology.

5. Irfan Essa works at the computer lab there; he has developed a computer system that can look at you and recognize your mood.

6. He calls it the “Expression Recognition System” and says that they are trying to get computers to act like a human brain.

7. But Essa explains that the human brain is not like one computer; it is like many working together.

8. In Essa’s system, many computers work together.

9. First, a camera in the bedroom takes a picture of your face.

10. The camera feeds the image to a computer.

11. In the computer’s memory, there are pictures showing how the muscles of your face move when you are in different moods.

12. For example, cheek muscles move in one way when you are happy and smiling and in another way when you are nervous and tense.

13. The computer compares your picture to the face-muscle images stored in its memory.

14. It tries to find the best match; that’s how it figures out your mood. Then the computer sends messages to other computers in the system.

15. If you look happy, a computer may put on lively music; if you look tired and discouraged, a different computer may turn on the TV for you.

16. Essa thinks that the system could help us in important ways by helping create computers that are better teachers.

17. Essa explains that many people learn new skills through computer programs.

18. He further adds that when he teaches, he looks at people’s faces, and if his students look confused, he knows they didn’t understand.

19. He says that with this technology, a computer can also know if a student is learning.

20. Today, this new technology can be found only in labs, but Essa predicts we’ll see it out of the lab in a few years.

21. So get ready; one day, you might walk into a room that will soon become your best friend.

生词表（New Words）

1. Imagine 想象              bedroom 卧室                 interacts 互动

2. sad 难过                      arrange 安排                   friends 朋友

cheer 安慰

3. happy 高兴                 respond 回应                  game 游戏

4. sound 听起来              movie 电影

5. computer 计算机        lab 实验室                      system 系统

6. expression 表情          system 系统                    brain 大脑

7. human 人类                computer 计算机            many 许多

8. system 系统                computers 计算机          together 一起

9. camera 摄像头            picture 照片                    face 面部

10. feeds 传输                 image 图像                     memory 内存

11. muscles 肌肉            moods 情绪

12. example 例如            cheek 脸颊                      tense 紧张

13. compares 对比          images 图像                    memory 内存

14. tries 尝试                  find 找到                         match 匹配

15. happy 高兴               music 音乐                      tired 疲倦

16. help 帮助                  important 重要                teachers 教师

17. learn 学习                 skills 技能                       program 程序

18. face 面部                  confused 困惑                 understand 理解

19. technology 技术       learning 学习

20. technology 技术       lab 实验室                      years 年

21. ready 准备                room 房间                       best 最佳

friend 朋友

1. 想象一下，拥有一个与您互动的卧室。

2. 如果您感到难过，它会安排一些朋友过来安慰您。

3. 如果您感到高兴，它可能会通过和您玩您最喜欢的游戏来回应您。

4. 听起来像科幻电影中的情节吗？其实，这正是乔治亚理工学院的研究成果。

5. 伊尔凡·埃萨在那里的计算机实验室工作，他开发了一种能够看出你情绪的计算机系统。

6. 他称之为“表情识别系统”，并表示他们正在努力让计算机像人类大脑一样运作。

7. 但埃萨解释说，人类大脑不像一台计算机，它就像是许多计算机一起工作。

8. 在埃萨的系统中，许多计算机共同工作。

9. 首先，卧室中的摄像头会拍摄你面部的照片。

10. 摄像头将图像传输到计算机中。

11. 在计算机的内存中，存储着显示你在不同情绪下面部肌肉运动的图片。

12. 例如，当你高兴并微笑时，脸颊肌肉会以一种方式运动，而当你紧张时，它们则会以另一种方式运动。

13. 计算机会将你的照片与内存中存储的面部肌肉图像进行对比。

14. 它会尝试找到最佳匹配，这就是它识别你情绪的方式。然后，计算机会向系统中的其他计算机发送消息。

15. 如果你看起来很高兴，一台计算机可能会播放活泼的音乐；如果你看起来疲倦而气馁，另一台计算机可能会为你打开电视。

16. 埃萨认为，该系统可以帮助我们以重要的方式，帮助创造更好的教学计算机。

17. 埃萨解释说，许多人通过计算机程序学习新技能。

18. 他进一步补充说，当他授课时，他会观察学生们的面部表情，如果学生看起来困惑，他知道他们没有理解。

19. 他表示，利用这项技术，计算机也能知道学生是否在学习。

20. 今天，这项新技术只在实验室中可以找到，但埃萨预测，我们将在几年后看到它走出实验室。

21. 所以，做好准备吧，有一天，你可能会走进一个很快会成为你最好的朋友的房间。