文章大意:本文是说明文,文章介绍了一项生物科技技术成果——给机械手臂增加触觉感知功能。虽然该技术还处于试验阶段,触觉功能还不够自然逼真,但依然大大提高了使用者操作机械手臂的效率。
Most able-bodied people take their ability to perform simple daily tasks for granted — when they reach for a warm cup of coffee, they can feel its weight and temperature and adjust their grasp accordingly so that no liquid is spilled. People with full sensory and motor control of their arms and hands can feel that they’ve made contact with an object the instant they touch or grasp it, allowing them to start moving or lifting it with confidence.
But those tasks become much more difficult when a person operates an artificial arm, let alone a mind-controlled one.
In a paper published in Science, a team of bio engineers from the University of Pittsburgh describe how adding brain stimulation that generates tactile (触觉的) sensations makes it easier for the operator to use a brain-controlled robotic arm. In the experiment, combining vision with artificial tactile feedback cut the time spent grasping and moving objects in half, from 20.9 to 10.2 seconds.
Study participant Nathan Copeland, who was left with limited use of his arms after a car crash, is the first person in the world who was implanted with tiny electrode arrays (电极阵列) in his brain. Arrays allow him to not only control the robotic arm with his mind, but also to receive tactile feedback.
In a series of tests, where Copeland was asked to pick up and move various objects from a table to a raised platform, providing tactile feedback through electrical stimulation allowed him to complete tasks twice as fast compared to tests without stimulation.
“Even though the sensation isn’t natural, that never bothers me,” said Copeland.
“When even limited and imperfect sensation is restored, the person’s performance improved in a pretty significant way. We still have a long way to go in terms of making the sensations more realistic and bringing this technology to people’s homes, but the closer we can get to recreating the normal inputs to the brain, the better off we will be,” said Robert Gaunt, co-senior author of the study.
12. What does the author intend to tell us in Paragraph 1?
A.The value of being healthy. | B.The importance of the sense of touch. |
C.The simplicity of daily tasks. | D.The advantages of able-bodied people. |
13. What’s the purpose of implanting the arrays into Copeland’s brain?
A.To allow him to feel the objects. | B.To improve his test performance. |
C.To connect his senses of sight and touch. | D.To stimulate him to complete more tasks. |
14. What can we learn from Robert Caunt’s words about the study?
A.It’s unreliable. | B.It’s promising. |
C.It’s perfect. | D.It’s theoretical. |
15. What’s the best title for the text?
A.Application of Biotechnology in Medical Care. |
B.Restoration of Lost Sensations Proves Possible. |
C.Development of Mind-Controlled Robotic Arms. |
D.Sense of Touch Improves Control of a Robotic Arm. |