The Intelligent Transport team at Newcastle University has turned an electric car into a mobile laboratory named “DriveLAB” 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(隔绝) 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 preserving 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 DriveLAB is helping us to understand what the key points and difficulties are for older drivers and how we might use technology to address 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(解决方案) to ensure that older drivers stay safer behind the wheel.”
1. What is the purpose of the DriveLAB?| A．To explore new means of transport. | B．To design new types of cars. |
| C．To find out older driver’s problems. | D．To teach people traffic rules. |
| A．It keeps them independent. | B．It helps them save time. |
| C．It builds up their strength. | D．It cures their mental illnesses. |
| A．Improve their driving skills. | B．Develop driver-assist technologies. |
| C．Provide tips on repairing their cars. | D．Organize regular physical checkups. |
| A．A new Model Electric Car | B．A Solution to Traffic Problem |
| C．Driving Service for elders | D．Keeping Older Drivers on the Road |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】On Wednesday, a search team called Endurance22 announced that it had located the wreck (沉船) Endurance. The Endurance was found 1. 87 miles below the ocean’s surface, about four miles south of its last known location.
Over a hundred years after it sank near Antarctica, the ship has been found. The ship sank after it got trapped in the ice in the Weddell Sea in 1915.
The discovered ship is still in excellent shape. The name can be clearly read on the back of the ship. Its wheel looks ready to be turned. Even though the ship is made of wood and is over 100 years old, it has survived with little damage. Scientists say that the small organisms (微生物) that normally break down wooden objects underwater don’t live in cold water around Antarctica.
The Endurance22 is led by the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust. The team ran the project from an ice-breaking ship which was able to handle the difficult conditions of the Weddell Sea. To locate the Endurance, the team used two underwater robots called Sabertooths.
For the last two weeks, the Sabertooths robots have been scanning the seafloor in a 150-square mile area around the Endurance’s last known location. The Sabertooths were especially useful, since they could travel under the ice and go where the ship could not.
The robots were looking for anything sticking up above the seafloor. Last Saturday, the ship was found. After the ship was located, the Sabertooths used high-quality cameras and scanners to record the Endurance in detail.
The Endurance is expected to remain untouched. Antarctica’s waters are protected by an international agreement, which means the ship can’t be disturbed. The Endurance22 team plans to create a digital 3D model of the wreck site, using a careful scan they made. This will allow scientists to study the ship in detail without disturbing it.
1. What helped to keep the Endurance in good shape?| A．Special wood. | B．Sea sand. | C．Fine weather. | D．Cold water. |
| A．By searching the seafloor. | B．By breaking ice for researchers. |
| C．By picking up signals from the ship. | D．By diving undersea with scientists. |
| A．Patience. | B．Weather. | C．Technology. | D．Luck. |
| A．Study the Endurance. | B．Explore the Weddell Sea. |
| C．Locate the Endurance. | D．Scan the seafloor. |
【推荐2】Three-dimensional printing, a technology that creates objects layer by layer, has revolutionized the way we make things. Recently, a group of Chinese scientists took things a step further by using this technology to create realistic replicas of human organs.
Previously, it was challenging to create a single material that could print different human organs due to their complexity. The research team from the Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics at the Chinese Academy of Science started by using hydrogel, a soft gel-like material as the main ingredient.
Human organs have various textures, with our brains being the softest. To replicate the hardness of materials like bone, the researchers added metallic elements to the hydrogel and adjusted their ratio to create the texture of each organ. However, the structure inside human organs is also incredibly complex with many interweaving channels. To make sure the printing results are correct, the team used light-curing technology in the 3D printing process. A special lamp was placed under the printing machine, causing the gel to become solid right after it was printed.
According to the team’s paper published in the journal Advanced Functional Materials, they were able to produce organ models including the brain, lungs, and intestines.
These 3D printed organ models are essential for research purposes, such as testing medical equipment and demonstrating surgeries.
Compared to live organs and animal models, they are also ethically acceptable since they are printed artificially. They can help researchers develop new treatments more efficiently, due to their lower relative cost, commented the Alliance of Advanced Biomedical Engineering website.
Hydrogel materials, however, usually cannot be used as transplants, because human cells are likely to recognize them as “enemies” and start to fight against them. What scientists have been exploring in “printing” the organs is bioprinting: using 3D printing technology to build up various types of cells and materials layer by layer. This way, the printed product will be more acceptable to grow inside the human body. However, this method is still developing , and experts are hoping it will be used in the medical field within a decade, according to CNN.
1. What was the main challenge in printing human organs?| A．The complexity of soft-like gel. |
| B．The high cost of printing materials. |
| C．The lack of appropriate printing technology. |
| D．The sophistication of human organs. |
| A．By controlling the number of metallic elements. |
| B．By using light-curing technology before printing. |
| C．By solidifying the gel immediately after printing. |
| D．By putting a special lamp over the printing machine. |
| A．They work better than animal models. |
| B．They can be used to test surgical tools. |
| C．They can fully replace animal testing. |
| D．They are easily made and are affordable. |
| A．They are not durable enough. |
| B．They can be rejected by the body. |
| C．They are likely to release toxins. |
| D．They are too hard to control during surgery. |
【推荐3】One Chinese startup (科技创业公司) apparently developed technology that allows it to identify individuals by their walk, even if their face is covered or they have their back to the camera.
Known as “gait recognition” (步态识别技术), the technology invented by artificial intelligence startup Watrix analyses thousand of metrics (指标) about a person’s walk, from their body shape and the angle of arm movement to their posture and whether they a toe-in or toe-out gait. All these individual features go into a database that the software then goes through when attempting to identify people. According to an official statement from Watrix, the accuracy rate of gait technology at the laboratory level exceeds (超过) 96 percent.
Facial recognition technology has come a long way in recent years, but it still has a fundamental weakness — it needs to “see” people’s faces in order to identify them, so if someone’s face is covered or if their back is to the camera, it’s basically useless. Gait recognition, on the other hand, is much more reliable. It works from virtually any angle, and because it analyses so many metrics, it can identify subjects even if they attempt to cover their legs. Disguises (伪装物) fake limps are not very effective in fooling the technology either.
“Covering your legs would reduce the recognition score but we analyze all of a person’s body,” Huang Yongzhen, co-founder and chief executive of Watrix, said in an interview. “With facial recognition people need to look into a camera — cooperation is not needed for them to be recognized by our technology.”
Watrix revealed the first version of their gait recognition technology in October, 2018 and has since been in talks with security companies from Singapore, India, Russia, the Netherlands, and Czech Republic for contracts. The technology has also been tested by public security officials for thousands of hours and used to solve dozens of police cases. Authorities in Shanghai and Beijing are already using gait recognition to detect wanted criminals and identify jaywalkers (乱穿马路者).
The current version of gait recognition software isn’t yet capable of detecting people in real time, but the Chinese startup claims that it’s able to analyze an hour’s worth of video footage in just 10 minutes, with over 94% accuracy.
1. How could Watrix guarantee the accuracy of “gait recognition”?| A．By checking the angle of people’s arm movement. |
| B．By combining facial recognition with people’s walk. |
| C．By establishing a database of numerous individuals’ metrics. |
| D．By analyzing thousands of features of people’s legs and toes. |
| A．Unlimited angles. | B．Free gestures. |
| C．No need to cover. | D．Active cooperation. |
| A．Watrix has found several cooperative partners for its first version. |
| B．Gait recognition has been widely used in the field of pubilc security. |
| C．Watrix is trying to extend the use of the technology in Chinese big cities. |
| D．Gait technology has been proved beneficial in identifying wanted criminals. |
| A．Challenging. | B．Anticipated. | C．Profitable. | D．Unknown. |
