Technology - Part 1 [ESL]

Technology - Part 1

Part 1: Artificial eyes look to the future

Bionic Eyes

Bionic eyes (仿生眼) have been a mainstay (的支柱) of science fiction (科學幻想) for decades.

Other Bionic Eyes in Fiction

• Star Trek: First Contact (星艦迷航記VIII：戰鬥巡航)

• Mass Effect (质量效应系列)

• Shadowrun (暗影狂奔)

• Deus Ex: Human Revolution (駭客入侵：人類革命)

But we don't really have bionic eyes...... yet.

In Real Life.....

Now real science is beginning to catch up (趕上) with farsighted (遠見) storytellers.

A raft of (許多) technologies is coming to market that restore (修復) sight (視力) to people with different kinds of vision impairment (視力障礙).

Multiple Choice

Do we have bionic eyes yet?

• Yes

• No

Open Ended

Tell me one thing we could do with bionic eyes:

Examples of New Technology

Artificial Corneas

In January 2021, Israeli surgeons implanted (植入) the world’s first artificial (人造的) cornea (角膜) into a bilaterally (雙邊的) blind, 78-year-old man.

When his bandages were removed, the patient could read and recognize family members immediately.

The implant also fuses (結合) naturally to human tissue (组织 (生物学)) without the recipient’s (接受者) body rejecting (移植排斥) it.

Multiple Choice

In January 2021, scientists in Israel implanted the first ______.

• bionic eye

• bionic ear

• artificial cornea

• artificial leg

Multiple Choice

When his bandages were removed, the patient could NOT read and recognize family members immediately.

• True

• False

Multiple Select

Choose two good things about this kind of artificial cornea.

• It is cheap to buy.

• The implant also fuses naturally to human tissue.

• There is nothing good about it.

• The implant won't be rejected by the recipient’s body.

Artificial Irises

Likewise in 2020, Belgian (比利時人的) scientists at the University of Ghent have developed an artificial iris (虹膜) fitted to smart contact lenses (隱形眼鏡) that fix a number of vision disorders (視力障礙).

smart: （機器、武器等）智慧的

Multiple Choice

What can the smart contact lenses do?

• They can fix vision disorders

• They can help blind people see.

• They can let you see through walls.

• They can let you look at the Sun.

Multiple Choice

Scientists at the University of _______ have made an artificial iris.

• Harvard

• Stanford

• Oxford

• Ghent

Brain Implants (a)

And scientists are even working on wireless (無線的) brain implants (腦植入物) that bypass (繞過) the eyes altogether.

Brain Implants (b)

And scientists are even working on wireless (無線的) brain implants (腦植入物) that bypass (繞過) the eyes altogether.

Brain Implants (c)

And scientists are even working on wireless (無線的) brain implants (腦植入物) that bypass (繞過) the eyes altogether.

Researchers at Monash University in Australia are working on trials (試驗) for a system whereby users wear a pair of glasses fitted with a camera.

This sends data (資料) directly to the implant (（手術中）植入), which sits on the surface of the brain and gives the user a rudimentary (基本的) sense of sight (視力).

Multiple Select

Choose 3 ways that doctors are helping people who can't see well.

• Brain implants

• Artificial corneas

• Dogs carrying computers

• Glasses with a camera

Multiple Choice

Monash University is in _______.

• Australia

• Austria

• the US

• Canada

Multiple Choice

Scientists are making special glasses that send data (資料) to a brain implant, to give someone their sense of _______.

• sight

• hearing

• taste

• smell

Airports for drones and flying taxis

Bad Traffic

Congested (擁堵的) cities are in desperate need of a breather (短暫的休息).

Relief may come from the air as opposed to the roads.

First Urban Air Port in UK for Drones & Flying Cars

Plans for a different kind of transport hub (中心) are becoming a reality, with the first Urban Air Port receiving funding from the UK government.

One hub for delivery drones (無人駕駛飛機) and another hub for electric air-taxis

It’s being built in Coventry, England. The hub will be a pilot scheme (試驗計劃) and hopefully a proof of concept (概念验证) for the company behind it.

Multiple Choice

Where are they building the UK's first Urban Air Port for drones and flying cars?

• London

• New York

• Bristol

• Coventry

Multiple Select

What is the Urban Air Port for?

(Choose 2)

• Airplanes

• Jets

• Drones

• Flying taxis/Flying cars

Powered completely off-grid by a hydrogen generator (產生器), the idea is to remove (去掉) the need for as many delivery vans and personal cars on our roads.

off-grid = 不和主電網接通的

Those delivery vans and personal cars would be replaced them with a cleaner, smaller aircraft, with designs being developed by Hyundai and Airbus, amongst others. 

Infrastructure is going to be important. Organizations like the Civil Aviation Authority are looking into the establishment of air corridors (飞行航线) that might link a city center (市中心) with a local airport (機場) or distribution center (配送中心).

Multiple Choice

What do they want the Urban Air Port will do?

• Help big planes land

• Help remove delivery vans and personal cars from the road.

• Clean the air.

Multiple Select

Who is making the new, smaller aircraft that will use the Urban Air Port?

(Choose 2)

• Hyundai

• Airbus

• United Airlines

• Boeing

Some Examples of Flying "Cars"

The Aircar

This flying car completed a 35-minute flight in June 2021

The company behind AirCar, Klein Vision, says the prototype has taken about two years to develop and cost "less than 2m euros" (£1.7m) in investment.

Volocopter

As of January 2021, the Volocopter is being evaluated for safety in the US. The company that makes Volocopter, expects to be approved in the next three years.

They hope to start air taxi services in major metropolitan areas such as New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Washington, DC