Sound Shirt allows deaf people to“feel”music

湖北襄陽市第三中學 陳 芳

體裁 篇幅 建議用時說明文355 6分鐘

Now more companies are experimenting with the concept of connected garments（衣服).Among the pioneers is London-based CuteCircuit,which has been creating fashionable smart clothing since 2004.The company's latest innovation is the “Sound Shirt”,which allows deaf people to “feel”live music by transforming the tunes into touch sensations in real time.

The fashionable jacket uses software that converts the music into data and wirelessly sends it to the 16-micro actuators （驅動器）fixed inside the clothing's fabric.The devices vibrate (振動)with the intensity of the music being played,allowing the wearer to feel each instrument individually. For example, violins can be felt on the arms,while the deeper,heavier bass notes can be felt close to the stomach.The series of touch-like sensations across the wearer's body enable him or her to feel the entire composition,resulting in a musical experience.

To ensure the shirt is comfortable,the designers chose to leave out wires and instead wove conductive textiles into the garment's fabric.Francesca Rosella,chief creative officer of CuteCircuit,explains,“There're no wires inside,so we're only using smart fabrics—we have a combination of micro-electronics and very thin and flexible,and conductive fabrics.All these little electronic motors are connected with these conductive fabrics so that the garment is soft and stretchable.”

CuteCircuit, which has been testing the Sound Shirt for three years,expects to make it available to the general public shortly.Priced at$3,673,the smart jacket won't be cheap.However, twin sisters Hermon and Heroda Berhane,who lost their hearing at a young age,believe the hi-tech garment is a worthwhile investment, especially for deaf peoplewith a passion for dancing.“It's almost like feeling the depth of the music,”says Hermon.“It just feels as though we can move along with it.”

Over the years,the company has unveiled hundreds of amazing connected outfits.Among them is an interactive concert dress for American musical artist Nicole Scherzinger that displayed tweets from her fans. Also fun is the HugShirt which enables people to send hugs to loved ones who aren't physically in the same area.

閱讀檢測

1.What can we learn about smart clothing from the first paragraph?

A.It has become a trend in the research field.

B.It's intended mainly for the disabled people.

C.It's meant to enable the users to sense music.

D.It has gain wide popularity around the world.

2.CuteCircuit made the Sound Shirt comfortable.

A.by reducing its hardness

B.by using stretchable wire

C.by using proper materials

D.by softening its electronics

3.What can we know about the Sound Shirt?

A.It is affordable to ordinary people.

B.It is widely used globally.

C.It is under test at present.

D.It is believed to be the best.

4.Why are the twin sisters mentioned in the text?

A.To show users'love for the shirt.

B.To stress the benefits of the shirt.

C.To encourage the use of the shirt.

D.To predict the future of the shirt.

語言學習

難句分析

However,twin sisters Hermon and Heroda Berhane,who lost their hearing at a young age,believe the hi-tech garment is a worthwhile investment, especially for deaf people with a passion for dancing.然而，在很小的時候就失去了聽力的雙胞胎姐妹Hermon 和Heroda 認為這種高科技服裝是值得投資的，尤其是對那些熱愛舞蹈的聽力障礙者來說。

該句為主從復合句，句中who 引導定語從句修飾twin sisters Hermon and Heroda Berhane，believe 后的賓語從句省略了引導詞that。

背景知識

英國倫敦的“可愛電路”公司

“可愛電路”公司（CuteCircuit）是英國倫敦的一家服裝公司。它所有服裝都是在倫敦設計，在美國或意大利制造。2009 年，“可愛電路”公司設計師弗蘭切絲卡·羅塞利亞和瑞安·根茨受美國芝加哥科學和工業博物館委托，設計一件代表時尚創新的服裝，于是催生了一件嵌有2.4 萬個發光二極管的晚禮服，它有一個貼切的名稱——銀河晚禮服。銀河晚禮服充電一次可發光30 分鐘。即使沒有光輝，晚禮服依然閃亮動人。設計師表示，發光二極管應用的新技術不會使裙子溫度過高，想穿銀河晚禮服的超級時尚迷們不會感覺炙熱。 發光二極管耗能低，裝在襯裙里的小充電電池足夠點亮它們。