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A graduate student wearing a skull cap covered in wires sits perfectly still and thinks about making a fist with his right hand. |
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一名研究生戴著佈滿線路的頭骨帽，完全靜止不動地坐著，並且想著右手握拳。 |
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Nearby, a small quadcopter -- a flying drone with four rotors -- turns right. |
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He imagines making a fist with his left hand, and the robotic flying copter goes left. |
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After a thought about clenching both hands, it lifts higher into the air. |
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He is controlling the device with his mind. |
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附近有個四旋翼直升機── 一具有四個轉軸的無人飛機──向右轉。他想像左手握拳，那個機械飛行器就往左前進。想著用兩手握住之後，飛行器就更往上升到空中。他正在用心智控制這具裝置。 |
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The system is part of a new research project that reads the brain's electrical activity and translates certain thoughts into commands for the unmanned aerial vehicle. |
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It's called a brain-computer interface, and someday it could have important uses for people who are paralyzed. |
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這個系統是一項新研究中的一部分，該研究會讀取腦部的電子活動，轉譯特定的思緒變成控制這個無人空中載具的指令。這稱為腦機介面，未來某一天對癱瘓人士來說可能有重大功用。 |
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"We envision that they'll use this technology to control wheelchairs, artificial limbs or other devices," said University of Minnesota engineering professor Bin He in a post announcing the project. |
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「我們期盼他們能用這項科技來控制輪椅、義肢或其他裝置，」明尼蘇達大學工程教授賀斌在公佈這項計畫的一份貼文中這麼說。 |
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Here's how it works: Imagining specific movements without actually doing them produces electric currents in the motor cortex. |
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The interface itself isn't new, but the researchers used brain imaging scans to find out exactly which imagined movements activated which neurons. |
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運作的原理如下：想像做某個特定動作但實際上沒動，會在大腦運動皮層產生電流。這個介面本身並不是新發明，但是研究人員利用腦部造影掃描來找出哪個想像的動作究竟會啟動哪個神經元。 |
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Once they mapped out the various thoughts and associated signals, they used them to control a helicopter simulation on a computer. |
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Next, they moved on to real flying devices. |
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一旦他們標示出各種思緒和相關的訊息，就在電腦上用它們控制模擬直昇機。接著，他們才進一步測試真的飛行器。 |
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There are no implants or invasive brain tweaks needed for subjects to control the copter with their brain. |
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The technology is called electroencephalography (EEG). |
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The skull cap uses 64 electrodes to detect these currents from a subject's brain as they think about associated actions, then translates the data into instructions and transmits them to the copter over Wi-Fi. |
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受測者不須任何植入物或侵入腦部的改變，就能用他們的頭腦來控制飛行器。這項科技稱為腦電波儀。頭骨帽上用六十四個電極來偵測受測者想著相關動作時腦部傳來的腦波，然後把該數據轉譯成指令，透過 Wi-Fi 傳輸給四旋翼直升機。 |
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"Flying is just the start for this technology," He said. |
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「飛行只是這項科技的起步」，賀教授說。 |
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"It may even help patients with conditions like autism or Alzheimer's disease or help stroke victims recover," he said. |
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「這可能甚至可以幫助患有例如自閉症或阿茲海默氏症病狀的病患，或幫助中風病患復原，」他表示。 |
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