科技英語閲讀特訓《小體積有大聲音》

鑲嵌的聲音

我們需要更強大的技術，同時我們也期望我們的裝置能更小巧，更不引人注意。在這個超薄MP3播放器時代，超薄揚聲器並不是什麼新鮮的東西，但華威大學音頻技術公司研發的擴音器的大小絕對令你大吃一驚。公司CEO史蒂夫?寇奇曼説：“我們所採用的網材料的厚度僅為25 毫米。”如此小的揚聲器能夠大大提高公共場所語音服務的效果。這些服務包括車站的公共信息和購物中心的導購信息。寇奇曼説：“要想更有效的使用這種揚聲器，我們需要把它安裝在一個框架裏。例如，這個框架可以是懸掛在超市中的海報。當你走進這個海報時，揚聲器就會發出這樣的聲音‘這些橙子是來自西班牙的最好的產品，你想嘗一嘗嗎？’”

原型

這種新型揚聲器的發明者是華威大學的`鄧肯?比爾森博士和哈欽斯教授。寇奇曼説：“這一概念來自華威大學的超聲學研究所。2002年，他們研究出了這種揚聲器的原型。”最初的時候，比爾森和哈欽斯嘗試利用兩層錫箔和一層絕緣的烘焙紙製造聲音。現在的模型是由幾層膜和一個金屬化的背框組成的。寇奇曼説：“這金屬化的背框可以是非常有彈性的材料。這意味着整個揚聲器既可以非常有彈性也可以非常堅硬。”

環繞聲

科學家們嘗試將揚聲器做成屋頂的磁瓦，甚至將它做成一個360度的燈罩。這能使揚聲器發出的聲音更清脆、更響亮。這種揚聲器的用途將非常廣泛。它可以被嵌入書寫用的白板，也可以被安裝在汽車裏。讓車內產生最理想音響效果的辦法是將揚聲器放置於車頂呢中。寇奇曼説：“目前，汽車製造商還沒能做到這一點。其主要原因是傳統的揚聲器佔用空較大，不適合放在車頂呢中。而且，這樣做還會增加車身重量，改變車的重心。對於一輛設計好的汽車，它的重心是不可以輕易改變的。”新型的揚聲器重量輕、體積小，可以很容易的克服這些困難，是一種真正的環繞聲技術。

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.