科技英語(yǔ)閱讀特訓(xùn)《小體積有大聲音》

　　鑲嵌的聲音

　　我們需要更強(qiáng)大的技術(shù)，同時(shí)我們也期望我們的裝置能更小巧，更不引人注意。在這個(gè)超薄MP3播放器時(shí)代，超薄揚(yáng)聲器并不是什么新鮮的東西，但華威大學(xué)音頻技術(shù)公司研發(fā)的擴(kuò)音器的大小絕對(duì)令你大吃一驚。公司CEO史蒂夫?寇奇曼說(shuō)：“我們所采用的網(wǎng)材料的厚度僅為25 毫米�！比绱诵〉膿P(yáng)聲器能夠大大提高公共場(chǎng)所語(yǔ)音服務(wù)的效果。這些服務(wù)包括車(chē)站的公共信息和購(gòu)物中心的導(dǎo)購(gòu)信息�？芷媛�說(shuō)：“要想更有效的使用這種揚(yáng)聲器，我們需要把它安裝在一個(gè)框架里。例如，這個(gè)框架可以是懸掛在超市中的海報(bào)。當(dāng)你走進(jìn)這個(gè)海報(bào)時(shí)，揚(yáng)聲器就會(huì)發(fā)出這樣的聲音‘這些橙子是來(lái)自西班牙的最好的產(chǎn)品，你想嘗一嘗嗎？’”

　　原型

　　這種新型揚(yáng)聲器的發(fā)明者是華威大學(xué)的鄧肯?比爾森博士和哈欽斯教授。寇奇曼說(shuō)：“這一概念來(lái)自華威大學(xué)的超聲學(xué)研究所。2002年，他們研究出了這種揚(yáng)聲器的原型。”最初的時(shí)候，比爾森和哈欽斯嘗試?yán)�用兩層錫箔和一層絕緣的烘焙紙制造聲音。現(xiàn)在的模型是由幾層膜和一個(gè)金屬化的背框組成的。寇奇曼說(shuō)：“這金屬化的背框可以是非常有彈性的材料。這意味著整個(gè)揚(yáng)聲器既可以非常有彈性也可以非常堅(jiān)硬�！�

　　環(huán)繞聲

　　科學(xué)家們嘗試將揚(yáng)聲器做成屋頂?shù)拇磐�，甚至將它做成一個(gè)360度的燈罩。這能使揚(yáng)聲器發(fā)出的聲音更清脆、更響亮。這種揚(yáng)聲器的用途將非常廣泛。它可以被嵌入書(shū)寫(xiě)用的白板，也可以被安裝在汽車(chē)?yán)铩Ｗ屲?chē)內(nèi)產(chǎn)生最理想音響效果的辦法是將揚(yáng)聲器放置于車(chē)頂呢中�？芷媛�說(shuō)：“目前，汽車(chē)制造商還沒(méi)能做到這一點(diǎn)。其主要原因是傳統(tǒng)的揚(yáng)聲器占用空較大，不適合放在車(chē)頂呢中。而且，這樣做還會(huì)增加車(chē)身重量，改變車(chē)的重心。對(duì)于一輛設(shè)計(jì)好的汽車(chē)，它的重心是不可以輕易改變的。”新型的揚(yáng)聲器重量輕、體積小，可以很容易的克服這些困難，是一種真正的環(huán)繞聲技術(shù)。

　　Embedded sound

　　We demand ever more powerful technologies, while expecting them to be smaller, more compact and discreet. So perhaps in an age of ultra-small MP3 music players it’s no surprise to hear of ultra-thin loudspeakers, yet the dimensions of the loudspeaker developed by Warwick Audio Technologies is remarkably small. ‘The mesh material we use is less than 0.25 millimetres thick’, explains the company’s Chief Executive Officer, Steve Couchman. The size of the loudspeakers opens up new possibilities for better sound in public spaces, from travel information in train stations, to information about products in shopping centres. ‘To use the speaker effectively,’ says Couchman, ‘you need to put it into some sort of frame. So if we had some sort of back frame we could use that as a material on its own, for example it could be a hanging poster in a supermarket. As you approach it would then say something like “these oranges are the best from Spain, would you like to try them?” that sort of thing.’

　　Prototype

　　The inventors are Dr Duncan Billson and Professor Hutchins of the University of Warwick, says Couchman. “The concept came out of the University’s Ultrasonics Group. It dates back to 2002 when they made the discovery.” Originally Billson and Hutchins conducted trials creating sound with two sheets of tin-foil and an insulating layer of baking paper. The current prototype is constructed from a number of films and a metallised back-frame. ‘That metallised back-frame,’ says Couchman, ‘can be very flexible material which means the whole of the speaker can be flexible, or it can be a very stiff material.’

　　Surround-sound

　　They have experimented with the speaker as a ceiling tile, and have even incorporated it around a 360 degrees lampshade. The construction of the speaker gives crisper, sharper sound. There’s been lots of interest in its potential, from building it into whiteboard technology, to fitting it in cars. To get the best sound in cars says Couchman, ‘the ideal place for speakers is in the headlining. Manufacturers until now have not been able to do that because of space, and because it would increase the weight and change the car’s centre of gravity. One thing you don’t do is change the centre of gravity after it has been designed.’ It is a truly surround-sound technology.

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