Control a computer with your tongue 用舌頭控制電腦

PHOENIX, Ariz. — A new tongue-controlled computer mouse would allow someone with no working arms or legs to use a computer. With such a device, people with even severe physical handicaps might navigate cyberspace. The new mouse system was unveiled last week by its designer, a Canadian teen.

鳳凰城，亞利桑那州——一款新的由舌頭控制的電腦鼠標(biāo)可以讓胳膊或者腿失去作用的人使用電腦。擁有這樣一款設(shè)備，甚至有嚴(yán)重身體殘疾的人也可以上網(wǎng)了。上周這款新的鼠標(biāo)系統(tǒng)的設(shè)計者，一名加拿大青年公開了這一產(chǎn)品。

More than 250,000 Americans alone have spinal cord injuries, according to experts at the University of Alabama in Birmingham. Some 118,000 of these people are quadriplegic (Quah-drah-PLEE-jik), meaning both of their arms and legs are paralyzed.

根據(jù)伯明翰的阿拉巴馬大學(xué)的專家的調(diào)查，250,000多美國人患有脊髓損傷。這些人當(dāng)中約有118,000人四肢癱瘓，也就是說他們的雙臂和雙腿完全癱瘓。

Some researchers have invented ways for such people to control a computer using brain waves or the movements of their eyes. But now, Emma Mogus has come up with an easier way for many such patients to control a computer: using their tongue.

一些研究者已經(jīng)想出了一下方法讓這些人能夠用電腦波或者眼球運(yùn)動來控制電腦。但是現(xiàn)在艾瑪·莫古斯想出了一個更加簡單的方法讓更多患者可以用舌頭控制電腦。

Emma built a prototype of her device using simple parts. The main part is a mouth guard, like those used by football players or other athletes. Emma drilled five holes in the mouth guard that a tongue could reach: two on the left side, two on the right, and one in the front. She installed a pressure-sensitive switch in each hole. Four of the switches correspond to the up, down, left and right arrows on a computer keyboard. The fifth switch acts like the “click” button on a computer mouse. Together, all of these parts cost less than $10.

艾瑪已經(jīng)用簡單的部件完成了自己的設(shè)備模型。主要的部分是舌頭能夠觸到的口腔防護(hù)器：左右兩邊分別有兩個，前面有一個。她在每個孔中都安裝了一個壓敏開關(guān)。開關(guān)中的四個與電腦鍵盤的上下左右相似。第五個開關(guān)充當(dāng)電腦鼠標(biāo)的“點(diǎn)擊”鍵。這些部分加起來的成本在10美元以下。

In tests, volunteers were able to quickly learn how to use Emma’s device. After just a session or two, they were navigating onscreen more quickly and typing more words per minute than when they started.

在試驗中，志愿者能夠快速學(xué)會使用艾瑪?shù)脑O(shè)備。經(jīng)過僅僅一兩個階段，他們在屏幕上的操作與打字速度要比他們剛開始學(xué)的時候快很多。

Emma suspects that her invention could be useful for far more people than just those with spinal-cord injuries. People with multiple sclerosis or other paralyzing conditions, might use the device too.

艾瑪推測她的發(fā)明不僅能夠幫助脊髓損傷的患者，也能幫助更多其他類型的患者?；加卸喟l(fā)性硬化癥或者其他癱瘓癥狀的人，或許也可以使用這一設(shè)備。