9D电视将引领未来

Films and TV shows are already effective at tugging our heartstrings or putting us on the edge of our seats.

电影和电视节目已经很大程度上的扣动着我们的心弦，让我们在座位上看得如痴如醉。

But new technology could be about to make the small screen a great deal more immersive.

但是新科技将会使看电视的人更加沉浸其中。

Researchers are developing ways of generating emotions through the sense of touch, smell and taste that could lead to what the designers are calling 9D TV.

研究者们正致力于研究通过触感、嗅觉和味觉来产生情感的方法，也就是制造所谓的9D电视。

While current cutting-edge 3D TVs help turn flat images into an experience that has depth and distance, it is often not enough to create truly compelling viewing, explained the researchers.

研究者们解释说道，现今先进的3D电视能够使平面图像具有深度和广度，使其栩栩如生，但却还不足以创造出真正激动人心的视觉体验。

Instead, the team based at the University of Sussex in Brighton is developing a system that uses bursts of air to stimulate different parts of the hand.

相反，在英国布莱顿苏塞克斯大学工作的一支团队正在研究一种系统，通过阵风，刺激手掌不同位置的神经，令用户产生各种情绪。

Separate regions of the hand have been linked with generating certain emotions - although the emotion triggered can depend on the location and force of the touch, for example.

比如，尽管所激发的情感取决于触摸的位置和力度，但手不同的区域已经与产生特定的情感联系起来。

The device being developed in Brighton, built by electronics firm Ultrahaptics, takes advantage of this research to touch hands in a way that conveys a range of emotions from happiness and sadness to excitement or fear.

超触觉电子公司制造了一种设备，现正于布莱顿开发，这项设备能够利用这个研究在一定程度上触摸手部，使其传达一系列的情感，从快乐和悲伤到激动或害怕。

It works by using ultrasound speakers to produce a flow of air that can be transmitted to a person's skin.

通过使用超声波扬声器，它能使空气流动，从而流动的空气能传输信号到人体的皮肤。

By using short sharp bursts of air to the area around the thumb, index finger and middle part of the palm to generate excitement, for example. To create sad feelings, the air is used to create a slow and moderate stimulation of the outer palm and the area around the 'pinky'.

例如用短促的风吹拇指、食指及掌心，令人产生兴奋感觉，或用慢而柔和的风吹手掌边及尾指，令人觉得伤心等。如果装置配合电视使用，相信用户看电视时会更投入。

The group is now starting to develop similar technology that exploits our sense of smell and taste.

这个团队现在开始研究类似的技术，使其能够开发我们的嗅觉和味觉。

The result would be a 9D TV that combines vision, sound, touch, smell and the five tastes - sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami.

而研究的结果将是9D电视，结合了视觉、听觉、触觉、嗅觉及甜、酸、苦、咸、鲜五种味觉。

Dr Marianna Obrist, who led the work at the department of informatics at the University of Sussex, said combined together they could bring all of our senses into the experience of watching television.

玛瑞安那·奥布里斯特教授在苏塞克斯大学信息系领导这项工作，她说道，9D电视将这些相结合起来，能够让我们在看电视时带动所有感官。

Early research by her team has shown that taste can be used to convey certain experiences.

这个团队早期的研究表明，味觉往往能够传达某种体验。

Participants in a trial study experienced sweet tastes as being 'smooth' or 'round' while sour was more 'spikey'.

参与尝试性研究的人们体验到，甜味较为平稳或是圆润，而酸味较为“尖锐。

Similarly, her group found it could establish 'smell stories' for participants by finding smells they associated with particular experiences.

类似的，她的团队发现，他们能够为参与者建立“味道故事库，也就是那些能和参与者的特定经历联系在一起的味道。

There are already some technologies that attempt to manipulate the sense of taste and smell, such as electrically stimulating the tongue or releasing perfumes to replicate certain smells.

已经有一些技术尝试去操控人的味觉和嗅觉，比如用电刺激舌头或释放香味来复制出特定的味道。

Dr Obrist and her colleagues presented details of their Ultrahaptics device to the annual Computer Human Interface conference in South Korea.

奥布里斯教授和她的同事在韩国年度计算机人机界面大会上展示了超触觉设备的详尽细节。

She said: 'Relatively soon, we may be able to realise truly compelling and multi-faceted media experiences, such as nine-dimensional TV, or computer games that evoke emotions through taste.

她表示，很快将能真正的实现引人注目的和多层面的媒体体验，比如九维电视，或是通过味道引发情感的电脑游戏。

'While the first four senses are already well established or emerging, I am particularly intrigued by the potential of taste and exploiting the taste experiences in a media context.

"虽然前四种感官体验已经得到很好的开发，我却对味觉的潜力很感兴趣，正试图在媒介环境下去开发味觉体验。

'Longer term, we will be exploring how multi-sensory experiences can benefit people with sensory impairments, including those that are widely neglected in Human-Computer Interaction research, such as a taste disorder.'

"今后，我们还会研究如何运用多感官体验造福于有感官缺损的人们，包括那些人机互动研究普遍忽略的人群，比如味觉障碍者。"

She said the technology could even be used to send emotions via mobile devices like smartphones.

她说，这项技术甚至能被用来通过智能手机等移动设备发送情感。

Vocabulary

immersive: 沉浸其中的