因生病而孤独的孩子的福音

2021-01-29浙江杭州市富阳区新登中学胡君祥

疯狂英语·新悦读 2020年12期

关键词：富阳点石成金麦克风

浙江杭州市富阳区新登中学胡君祥

一种小型机器人可以帮助孩子们远离因长期患病而产生的孤独感。

题材科技文章词数难度建议用时新闻报道体裁450 ★★★ 8 分钟

难词探意

1. homebound /΄həʊmbaʊnd/ adj. 回家的

2. microphone /΄maɪkrəfəʊn/ n. 麦克风

Anyone who has had a long-term illness knows that recovering at home can be lonely. This is especially true of children. These children may feel isolated. A small robot may help children who are recovering from long-term illnesses in the hospital or at home. The robot takes their place at school. Through the robot,the children can hear their teachers and friends. They also can take part in class from wherever they are recovering.

Now, some children may have a high-tech friend to help feel less left out and that friend is a robot.The robot is called AV1. AV1 goes to school for a child who's homebound while recovering from a longterm illness. And the child's school friends must help. They carry the robot between classes and place the robot on the child's desk.

A Norwegian company called No Isolation created the robot. The co-founders of No Isolation are Karen Dolva and Marius Aabel. Dolva explains how AV1 works. She says from home, the child uses a tablet or phone to start the robot. Then he uses the same device to control the robot's movements. At school, the robot becomes the eyes, ears and voice of the child.

“So, it sits at the child's desk in the classroom and the child uses a tablet or a phone to start it, control its movement with touch, and talk through it. So, it's the eyes and the ears and the voice at school.”

The student can take part in classroom activities from wherever they are recovering—whether at home or from a hospital bed. The robot is equipped with speakers, microphones and cameras that make communication easy. Again, here is Dolva.

“It has speakers and microphones and cameras, and when the child speaks at home or in the hospital to his iPad, it just comes out.”

The robot is designed to be tough. It is water-resistant and can take a fall from a desk without damage.Inside AV1, there is a small computer connected to a 4G network. A small camera hooked up to a small computer could do the job. But that would not be the same. AV1 is large and looks like a human for a reason. Dolva says this is important because the robot is supposed to be a friend to children.

“It can't be just a tiny camera because the other kids can't pick it up and take it with them. This is supposed to be their friend.” And robots are, quite simply, cool. The robot just became available to the public. Hopefully AV1 will help some children feel less lonely while they are absent from class.