首页
登录
职称英语
Gadgets with a Sporting Chance Consumer electronics:
Gadgets with a Sporting Chance Consumer electronics:
游客
2024-01-04
56
管理
问题
Gadgets with a Sporting Chance
Consumer electronics: New sports equipment, from tennis rackets to running shoes, uses processing power to enhance performance. Is that fair? Why should aspiring athletes stand on the sidelines when a spot of electronic assistance can put them in the middle of the game? That is the question many sports-equipment makers are asking as they sense an opportunity to boost their sales with high-tech products. You could call it the revenge of the nerds: a new wave of microchip-equipped sporting goods promises to enhance the performance of novices and non-sporting types alike--and could even make difficult sports easier.
Take cross-country skiing. Victor Petrenko, an engineer at Dartmouth College’s Ice Research Lab in New Hampshire, has invented some smart ski-brakes that, he believes, will increase the popularity of cross-country skiing by making the sport less challenging for beginners. The brakes, currently being tested by a ski manufacturer in the Alps, offer the necessary friction for a bigger "kick-off force" and make the skis less likely to slide backwards in their trucks. To make this happen, an electric current from the bottom of the skis pulses through the ice, melting a thin layer of snow that instantly refreezes and acts as a sort of glue.
This is not the only form of smart ski to hit the slopes. Atomic, a leading ski-maker based in Austria, plans to introduce a system later this year that runs a diagnostic safety check to ensure that the ski binding is properly closed, with the result being shown on a tiny built-in liquid-crystal display. Meanwhile, tennis equipment manufacturers are hoping that innovation will bring new zip to their business as well. They certainly need to do something: according to Sport ScanInfo, a market-research firm based in Florida, sales of tennis rackets in America fell 12.5% during the first half of 2004 compared with the first half of 2003.
With the ball clearly in their court, researchers at Head, a maker of sporting equipment, have devised a product that should appeal to players suffering from tennis elbow. A chip inside the racket controls piezo-electric fibres, which convert mechanical energy from the ball’s impact into electrical potential energy. This energy is then used to generate a counter-force in the piezo-electric fibres that causes a dampening effect. All of this, the firm says, translates into less stress on the elbow. Head claims that residual vibrations in the racket are dampened twice as fast as in conventional rackets, reducing the shock experienced by the player’s arm by more than 50%.
No doubt purists will object that this is simply not cricket. Rule-makers in many sports are now being forced to consider the implications of equipment that promises to augment athletes’ performance with electronic muscle. The International Tennis Federation, that body is responsible for setting the rules of the game, has specified in its most recent guidelines that "no energy source that in any way changes or affects the playing characteristics of a racket may be built into or attached to a racket".
Yet despite such wording, the guideline does not actually eliminate the use of Head’s smart rackets, because there is no external energy source---the damping effect relies solely on energy from the ball’s impact. Though high-tech equipment may cause controversy on the court, tennis clubs have to adhere to the guidelines set for the sport, explains Stuart Miller, the ITF’s technical manager. And if the rules allow self-generated forces to modify a racket’s response, so be it.
A Different sports have encountered different technologies, though the future will undoubtedly bring more overlap. B In golf, gadgets that pinpoint the location of the green using the Global Positioning System (GPS), C The rule-making body of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, which oversees the game in all countries except America and its dependencies, currently prohibits the use of distance-measuring devices. D As a result, golfers cannot rely on GPS aids in a tournament. While technological innovation in golf equipment should continue, the player’s skill should remain the predominant factor, says David Rickman, who is in charge of the club’s rules and equipment standards.
The trend towards high-tech assistance is not limited to sports with a reputation for expensive gear, however. Even runing, that most basic of sports, provides scope for electronic enhancement. The Adidas running shoe, which is due to be launched in December, incorporates a batterypowered sensor that takes about 1,000 readings a second. A microprocessor then directs a tiny embedded electric motor to adjust the characteristics of the sneaker, enableing it to change the degree of cushioning depending on the surface conditions and the wearer’s running style and foot position. The race for the smartest use of microchips in sporting equipment, it seems, has begun. [br] The word devise in paragraph 7 is closest in meaning to
选项
A、contrive.
B、give.
C、toss.
D、throw.
答案
A
解析
转载请注明原文地址:https://tihaiku.com/zcyy/3331954.html
相关试题推荐
ConsumerDemandandDevelopmentofGreenCarsThedayautomakers
ConsumerDemandandDevelopmentofGreenCarsThedayautomakers
ConsumerDemandandDevelopmentofGreenCarsThedayautomakers
ConsumerDemandandDevelopmentofGreenCarsThedayautomakers
ConsumerDemandandDevelopmentofGreenCarsThedayautomakers
ConsumerDemandandDevelopmentofGreenCarsThedayautomakers
GadgetswithaSportingChanceConsumerelectronics:
GadgetswithaSportingChanceConsumerelectronics:
GadgetswithaSportingChanceConsumerelectronics:
GadgetswithaSportingChanceConsumerelectronics:
随机试题
Thereareseveralpossiblerelationshipsbetweenlanguageandsociety.Onei
Habitsareafunnything.Wereachforthemmindlessly,settingourbrainsonaut
根据《期货交易管理条例》的规定,在会员分级结算制度下,若某期货公司为非结算会员,则交易所不对该期货公司进行结算,而是直接对客户进行结算。()A
按营运形式不同,公路旅客运输价格可以分为( )。A.班车客运运价 B.包车客
混合成本介于固定成本和变动成本之间,可以分解成固定成本和变动成本两部分。其中的回
用户与计算机通信的界面是()。A.CPU B.外围设备 C.应用程序 D.
薄壁金属电线管中KBG管是()。A.紧定式金属电线管 B.扣压式金属电线管
某天夜里,同宿舍的小赵、小钱、小孙、小李在谈论各自以及隔壁宿舍小周喜欢的电视频道
供应商向企业所提供资源的数量、价格以及供应是否及时、可靠,都会直接影响企业的(
甲公司为制造业企业,2021年到2022年发生的有关业务资料如下: (1)20
最新回复
(
0
)