A new smartwatch app warns users who are deaf or hard of hearing about nearby sounds, such as microwave beeps or car horns.
“The main motivation came from my own experience, and conversations that my colleagues and I have had with deaf and hard of hearing people over several years,” says Dhruv Jain, who presented the system, called SoundWatch, at the virtual ASSETS conference on October 28.
Jain, who is hard of hearing, uses SoundWatch at home to avoid sleeping through a smoke alarm. “On a nature walk, it’ll tell me that there’s birds chirping (吱喳叫), or there might be a waterfall nearby,” he says. “Those sounds make me feel more present and connected to the world.”
Sound awareness apps for smartphones exist. But Jain prefers the immediate sound notifications (提示) on his wrist, rather than in his pocket — and surveys of people who are deaf or hard of hearing show he’s not alone.
The SoundWatch app pairs an Android smartwatch and phone. The watch records surrounding noises and sends that data to the phone for processing. When the phone detects a sound of interest, the smartwatch vibrates and displays a notification.
Jain, a computer scientist at the University of Washington in Seattle, and colleagues designed the app to identify 20 noises. In experiments, SoundWatch correctly identified those 20 sounds 81.2 percent of the time. When set to listen only for urgent noises — a fire alarm, door knock or alarm clock — the app was 97.6 percent accurate. Eight deaf and hard of hearing people who used SoundWatch around a university campus gave the app broadly favorable reviews, but noted that the app misclassified some sounds in noisy outdoor settings.
Jain and colleagues are now working on a version of SoundWatch that users can train to recognize new sounds, such as their own house alarm, using just a few recordings.
1. From which section of a website is the text most probably taken?| A．Tech. | B．Health. | C．Environment. | D．Culture. |
| A．It came from real-life experiences. | B．It was the first sound awareness app. |
| C．It will vibrate when noises are recorded. | D．It can make users hear the real sounds. |
| A．To tell the convenience of the app. | B．To illustrate how the app works. |
| C．To state the importance of the app. | D．To show when the app detects sounds |
| A．It can distinguish all sounds. | B．It is sensitive to urgent noises. |
| C．University students praise it highly. | D．A new version has replaced the previous one. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】Big messaging apps abroad
While WeChat is China's biggest mobile messaging app,there are many equivalent apps in other countries that offer similar features.
WhatsApp (US)
Users: more than 300 million
Platforms: Android,iOS,Windows Phone,BlackBerry
Features: Text chat,push-to-talk,file sharing,location sharing
With more than 300 million active users,WhatsApp is one of WeChat's biggest competitors.Developed by two ex-Yahoo employees in 2009,WhatsApp originally focused on text chat,but on Aug.6 it also started push-to-talk service.It's noted for its accessibility,ease of use and the absence of adverts.The service is free for the first year,after which $0.99 (6.06 yuan) is charged for a one-year subscription.
Kakao Talk (South Korea)
Users: more than 100 million
Platforms: Android,iOS,Windows Phone,BlackBerry and Bada (an operating system developed by Samsung)
Features: Text chat,group chat,push-to-talk,group calls,file sharing
With more than 100 million users in more than 230 countries,Kakao Talk is a multi-platform texting applicbtion that allows users to send and receive messages for free.With Kakao Talk,users can message each other one-on-one or in group chats with unlimited numbers of friends.You can also choose from more than 250 animated emoticons and share them with friends.
Line (Japan)
Users: more than 200 million
Platforms: Android,iOS,Windows Phone,BlackBerry and PC
Features: Text chat,group chat,push-to-talk,file sharing,location sharing,gaming,stickers
Line tops the list of the most downloaded free apps in 52 countries.Apart from text and voice messaging,Line provides its users with more than 250 original stickers and emoticons to buy from its own shop.In the first quarter of 2013 alone,it made $17 million just from stickers.The popular app also allows friends to battle each other in the LINE Game.
1. Compared with the other two apps,which of the following features makes Line stand out?| A．Group mobile games. | B．Free emoticons. |
| C．Free download of the app. | D．Text and group chat. |
| A．Users can always send and receive messages for free with WhatsApp. |
| B．Users can share files with any of the three apps. |
| C．Kakao Talk frees users from unwanted advertisjments. |
| D．Line ranks first in the list of the most downloaded apps in 52 countries. |
| A．Advertisement. | B．Economy and Finance. |
| C．Entertainment. | D．Science and Technology. |
I received a private message on Facebook. It began harmlessly enough “Hey, girl. Wanted to invite you to join my next challenge group—we’ll be focusing on fitting in 30 minutes of exercise and balanced nutrition.”
It was all becoming too much. Facebook was running my life, not me.
But what killed Facebook for me was when I posted a photo, and five minutes later my son asked me how many “likes” it had got. His question was a wake-up call “Likes” are signs of acceptance and approval. I had forgotten that acceptance and approval need to come from within and had unknowingly set him a bad example.
Before Facebook, surfing the Internet was an occasional distraction and I spent a lot more time reading books and magazines. I checked in with friends through texts, emails and phone calls.
To recreate the simplicity of those days and set a healthier example for my son, I deactivated my Facebook account. I’d been in the habit of checking Facebook many times a day, so I had to come up with some new habits. I carried a novel and a crossword puzzle book around with me. I rediscovered knitting (针织). I started taking yoga classes.
I started to remember a few things. My body is fine just the way it is. I have friends who will help me out when I’m in trouble, and I will help them out. I do my best to be a good mother, and our son is happy and healthy. We are very lucky to be able to afford two vacations a year. I stopped looking at the world through my cellphone. I felt pleased at the moment. The break left me feeling better about myself, my family, my home and my life.
After a few weeks, I returned to Facebook. Now I look at the photos of my friends, kids growing up and treasure how social media allows me to keep in touch with family far and wide. I look in on a daily basis, but no longer with the desire constantly to post updates.
It is not an addiction any more.
1. What caused the author deactivate her Facebook account?2. What did the author do to change her life?
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underlined it and explain why.
After I found Facebook was running my life, I completely stopped using it.
4. What do you think is the best way to use social media? Please explain. (about 40 words)
【推荐3】Humans have little difficulty recognizing one another. We may not recall a name, but we can usually remember if we’ve seen a face. And we know that no two faces are exactly alike. Even “identical” twins have slightly different faces. Each human face is truly unique, which makes seeing someone’s face a great way to confirm their identity. And now we’ve invented machines that are able to recognize faces, which they are doing daily for innumerable purposes at lightning speed.
Governments, banks, employers, border security and police services are increasingly using facial recognition technology. This allows them to quickly confirm an individual’s identity. Systems are becoming so competent that a wanted criminal can instantly be picked out of a crowd of thousands of people. All that’s required is an image in a database to compare with the image of any number of people in a crowd.
Ordinary people, too, are using facial recognition to unlock their phones, their computers and other devices. Such systems are generally quite secure. According to a cellphone company, for example, there is only one chance in a million that a face other than your own could unlock your phone which is produced by them.
Personal facial recognition protection has several benefits. It is instantaneous, and it relieves us of the need to memorize passwords or PINs (Personal Identification Numbers). However, a device will require a password in the rare event it doesn’t, for whatever reason, recognize the user’s face.
Technology often makes our lives easier in everyday ways. However, sometimes the same technology is used in ways that we might find disturbing. For some people, it is good, but for other people, it might bring bad and uncomfortable feelings. Is there a downside to the rapid spread of facial recognition technology? There are numerous concerns about the use of facial recognition. Primarily, the concern is that it may threaten privacy. The installation of more and more cameras in public and private places is now a part of everyday life. Those cameras are being linked with huge image databases. This means people can be observed and recognized wherever they go and do whatever they do. Cameras on every lamppost may make public spaces safer, but keeping citizens who obey the law under constant watch is disturbing to many.
When a person wears a mask or a scarf, which covers his face, facial recognition systems are having some difficulty. A mask covers many of the facial data points used by recognition software to confirm a person’s identity. In response, facial recognition systems are being trained to use less facial data. That could affect how dependable it is as a method of identity detection and authentication.
1. What can we learn from this passage?| A．People find it difficult to recognize one another. |
| B．People can use technological equipment to recognize faces in our lives. |
| C．People have already used facial recognition systems without facial data. |
| D．People feel it necessary for governments to use facial recognition technology. |
| A．prove the safety of the facial recognition systems |
| B．compare different ways to unlock phones and computers |
| C．stress technology makes our lives easier in everyday ways |
| D．introduce the development of facial recognition technology |
| A．They think that the image databases are not dependable. |
| B．They dislike that their behaviors are watched and tracked. |
| C．They believe it is against the law to use facial recognition in public. |
| D．They are afraid that they may forget the passwords of their cell phones. |
| A．Positive. | B．Indifferent. | C．Objective. | D．Negative. |
【推荐1】If you’ve done your last year of school but are not yet ready to settle down to life at university or college, why not think about taking a break and having a gap year? Over 200,000 people between the ages of 18 and 25 did this last year.
Of course, you don’t have to leave home. The key to a constructive gap year is to learn new skills and work out what you want to do with your life. You can do this just as easily in your own country as you can on the other side of the world.
| A．There are many reasons to take a gap year. |
| B．The universities actively encourage gap year. |
| C．What are the most common types of gap year? |
| D．Having a gap year can help gain relevant work experience and key skills. |
| E．There are plenty of established volunteering project you can research online. |
| F．Perhaps you would rather just fill your backpack and go off on an adventure. |
| G．Employers will often ask you what you gained from the year, not where you went. |
【推荐2】Their beautiful call suggests the arrival of spring, but the routes taken by cuckoos(杜鹃) during their annual migration(迁徙) have remained a mystery. Now, though, scientists from the British Trust for Omithology(BTO) have revealed the details of their remarkable 10,000-mile journey, with the help of tracking devices.
Five male birds were caught in Norfolk last May and fitted with satellite-tagged “backpacks’’ before being released. The scientists then monitored their progress over 12 months as they flew to Africa in the autumn, and returned in the spring.
The project was carried out to discover why every year fewer of the birds return to Britain. Between 1995 and 2010，the population of cuckoos spending summer here fell by almost half, and the number is continuing to decline. Previously, the lack of information about the cuckoos’ long migration has hampered the understanding of how to help conserve the birds.
Earlier this year, it was reported that cuckoos arrived in the UK much earlier than normal. Their call was recorded by ornithologists(鸟类专家) as early as February, a month ahead of their usual arrival.
Like all migrating animals, cuckoos respond to the changing seasons. They depend on lush plants to provide the fruit and food for insects that they feed on. This reliance on seasonal patterns means that a changing climate could make an already challenging journey impossible for them.
1. What is the main purpose of the project?| A．To track cuckoos’ 10,000-mile journey. |
| B．To better understand the habits of cuckoos. |
| C．To find out what happens during cuckoos’ journey. |
| D．To discover why the population of cuckoos is declining. |
| A．prevented | B．deepened | C．improved | D．affected |
| A．In January. | B．In February. | C．In March. | D．In April. |
| A．1acking food | B．changing climate |
| C．changing routes | D．cold spring in the UK |
【推荐3】The Intelligent Transport team at Newcastle University have turned an electric car into a mobile laboratory named “Drive LAB” in order to understand the challenges faced by older drivers and to discover where the key stress points are.
Research shows that giving up driving is one of the key reasons for a fall in health and well-being among older people, leading to them becoming more isolated and inactive.
Led by Professor Phil Blythe, the Newcastle team are developing in-vehicle technologies for older drivers which they hope could help them to continue driving into later life.
These include custom-made navigation (导航) tools, night vision systems and intelligent speed adaptations. Phil Blythe explains: “For many older people, particularly those living alone or in the country driving is important for keeping their independence, giving them the freedom to get out and about without having to rely on others.”
“But we all have to accept that as we get older our reactions slow down and this often results in people avoiding any potentially challenging driving conditions and losing confidence in their driving skills. The result is that people stop driving before they really need to.”
Dr Amy Guo, the leading researcher on the older driver study, explains, “The Drive LAB is helping us to understand what the key stress points and difficulties are for older drivers and how we might use technology to solve these problems.”
“For example, most of us would expect older drivers always go slower than everyone else but surprisingly, we found that in 30mph zones they struggled to keep at a constant speed and so were more likely to break the speed limit and be at risk of getting fined. We’re looking at the benefits of systems which control their speed as a way of preventing that.”
“We hope that our work will help with technological solutions to ensure that older drivers stay safer behind the wheel.”
1. What is the purpose of the Drive LAB?| A．To explore new means of transport. | B．To design new types of cars. |
| C．To teach people traffic rules. | D．To find out older driver’s problems. |
| A．It keeps them independent. | B．It helps them save time. |
| C．It builds up their strength. | D．It cures their mental illnesses. |
| A．Ensure their safety with the help of technology. |
| B．Improve their diving skills. |
| C．Provide advice on repairing their cars. |
| D．Organize regular physical checkups. |
| A．A New Model Electric Car | B．Keeping Older Drivers on the Road |
| C．A Solution to Traffic Problems | D．Driving Services for Elders |
