科技資訊:未來城市變形記
A small vehicle that looks like a Jetsons version of a smart car rests in a room at MIT's Media Lab. Here's how it works. When parking, the rear of the electric CityCar slides under the chassis, allowing the body to fold up into a compact shell. Once folded, the CityCar will fit into a space just one-third the size of a standard parking spot. A single door on the front of the car pops open, allowing the driver to step out onto the sidewalk.
麻省理工學院（MIT）的媒體實驗室中停放着一輛小型車，它看起來就像《摩登家庭》中的智能車。它的工作原理是這樣的：停車時，電動城市智能微型車”（CityCar）的尾部滑到底盤下面，車體摺疊成一個緊湊的殼狀。摺疊起來以後，這輛車只需要標準停車位1/3的空間就能停放。同時，車頭的單門可以彈開，讓司機走上人行道。
The CityCar is just one example of how MIT's Changing Places group envisions the urban lifestyle of 2022. In October the world population hit 7 billion, and now for the first time in history more than half of the world's population lives in urban centers. MIT is studying how to house and move all those people in ways that will make urban living still bearable. Says Kent Larson, the program's director: "We're focusing on more efficient uses of resources, on ways to lower costs and energy use and at the same time increase personal space." Larson sees the CityCar, for example, as fitting into the shared-use programs already gaining traction through companies such as ZipCar (ZIP) and Getaround. The cars would complement what he hopes will be a full system of sharing, from bicycles and scooters for shorter commutes to cars for longer jaunts. A prototype of the CityCar built by MIT and the Spanish company DenokInn will be unveiled at European Union headquarters in Brussels this month under the project name Hiriko.
城市微型車只是麻省理工學院的換位研究小組（MIT's Changing Places group）構想的2022年城市生活方式中的1個例子。10月份，世界人口達到了70億人，而有史以來，如今首次有超過半數的世界人口生活在城市中心。麻省理工學院正在研究如何在維持城市生活的基礎上解決這些人口的居住和交通問題。該項目的負責人肯特·拉爾森說：“我們着重研究更有效的資源利用方式，以及如何在降低成本和能源用量的同時增加個人空間。”拉爾森認爲城市微型智能車與Zipcar和Getaround等公司方興未艾的汽車共享服務異曲同工。他期望這種車能夠協同跑短途的自行車、小型摩托車和跑長途的車輛，共同形成完備的拼車系統。這款由麻省理工學院和西班牙公司DenokInn製造的城市微型車樣車本月初將在位於布魯塞爾的歐盟（European Union）總部亮相，其所屬項目名名叫Hiriko。
MIT's Media Lab is also working on what it dubs the CityHome. Again, greater flexibility is key. The CityHome concept takes a Murphy-bed approach. A bedroom can double as anything from a kitchen to a personal gym with stoves, fridges, and StairMasters swinging out from hidden panels in the walls. Larson says that the customization cost for a small apartment would be as much as $30,000. However, the savings of paying for a one-room studio that functions as a three-room apartment could be 10 times that amount. MIT hopes to launch pilot programs in the Boston area.
麻省理工學院媒體實驗室還開展了名爲CityHome的智能家居項目。同樣，其關鍵要素在於更大的靈活性。CityHome概念採納了墨菲多功能牀的理念。1間臥室可以兼作多種用途，既可以做廚房、也可以用作個人健身房，裏面有烤爐、冰箱，還有通過隱形活頁固定在牆上的隱形活動班霸牌樓梯機（StairMasters）。拉爾森說，爲小戶型定製智能家居的費用可能將高達30,000美元。然而，這種可以充當三居室公寓的單居室工作室節約的錢可能是這個數字的10倍。麻省理工學院希望在波士頓地區進行試點。
The system can be customized to fit different income brackets. Want a Sub-Zero to pop out of your wall? The benefit for real estate developers is that they can stack more units into each building. The biggest hang-up for adoption? Parking spaces for the denser housing. The problem is solved — surprise — by matching the CityHome with the CityCar.
這種家居系統可以定做，以適應不同收入階層的需求。想把Sub-Zero冰箱（美國高檔冰箱品牌——譯註）嵌進牆壁裏嗎？沒問題。而對房地產開發商來說，好處在於他們可以在每座樓裏搭建更多套房子。那麼，採用智能家居系統的最大麻煩是什麼呢？那就是當住戶越來越密集時，停車位就會變得更緊張。但令人欣喜的是，這個問題同樣可以得到解決，那就是：將CityCar和CityHome配套使用。
