霍金與英特爾聯手開發輔助技術

You’ve heard plenty about diversity in the high-tech industry this year, mainly focused on matters of gender and race. Subtly, but surely the dialogue is expanding to include another often-overlooked demographic—individuals with physical disabilities.

今年，關於高科技產業多元化的報道屢見不鮮，尤其是針對不同性別和種族的創新。這種多元化甚至開始擴展到另一個常被人們忽視的羣體——肢體殘疾者，儘管這種變化很微妙，但它的確正在發生。

So-called “assistive” technologies that adapt computers and mobile gadgets for people who can’t use traditional input methods like keyboards or mice or even touch screens have been around for some time, of course.

當然，所謂的“輔助”技術已經面世有一段時間了。這種技術能夠幫助那些無法使用鍵盤、鼠標甚至觸摸屏等傳統輸入方式的人操作電腦和移動設備。

But Intel this week cast a new spotlight on this category. In particular, it’s pitching a system developed in collaboration with the world-renowned physicist Stephen Hawking. (Convenient timing given the release of a major motion picture based on his early life, “The Theory of Everything.”)

本週，英特爾（Intel）爲這個領域帶來了新的亮點。尤其特別的是，該公司將發佈一款與世界著名物理學家史蒂芬o霍金共同研發的新系統。【描繪霍金早年生活的電影《萬物理論》（The Theory of Everything）今年11月開始在北美上映，所以這真是個不錯的時間點。】

The technology, due in early 2015, lets individuals like Hawking—who is afflicted with motor neuron disease—control software applications through eye movements.

這項技術將於2015年初上市，可以讓霍金這樣罹患運動神經元疾病的殘障人士通過眼球運動控制軟件應用。

The major differences between this new platform and the one he’s been using for close to a decade center on performance. Intel’s new approach allows Hawking to “type” twice as fast. That means he can complete tasks such as composing an email message or navigating the Internet through a web browser more quickly. It also allows him to switch back and forth among applications more seamlessly. Intel figures there are roughly 3 million people worldwide who could benefit from this particular system.

與霍金使用了近十年的平臺相比，這款新平臺最大的差別在於性能出色。英特爾的新技術可以讓霍金的“打字”速度提高一倍。這意味着他可以更快地完成撰寫電子郵件、用瀏覽器上網等任務，還能更加無縫地在各個應用間切換。英特爾估計，全球大約有300萬人可以受益於該系統。

Hawking noted: “Intel has been supporting me for almost 20 years, allowing me to do what I love every day. The development of this system has the potential to improve the lives of disabled people around the world and is leading the way in terms of human interaction and the ability to overcome communication boundaries that once stood in the way.”

霍金表示：“近20年，英特爾一直爲我提供支持，讓我每天能做自己喜歡的事。這個系統的開發完成將有可能大大改善全球殘障人士的生活，它在人際互動及克服曾經阻礙人們的溝通界限方面處於領先地位。”

Speech synthesizers and eye-controlled pointing devices included in the Intel solution represent are just two examples of technologies that fall under the assistive umbrella. Some things you’d normally associate with computer gaming also have an obvious use, including joysticks or wands that respond to gestures. “Technology for the disabled is often a proving group for the technology of the future,” observed Intel Labs researcher Lama Nachman.

英特爾開發的言語合成器和用眼球控制的指針設備，只是輔助技術類產品的兩個例子。一些通常跟玩電子遊戲相關的設備，如遊戲搖桿或動作識別器，也有着非常明顯的用途。英特爾研究院（Intel Labs）的研究員拉瑪o納赫曼認爲：“供殘疾人使用的技術常常被證明就是未來的技術。”

From a corporate standpoint, supporting assistive technologies could become a hiring differentiator. Consider an example I noticed earlier this week involving call center software. Utah-based company TCN has added features to its cloud-based service that allow businesses to include visually impaired agents in customer support roles. This was made possible by connecting its software with a screen reader called JAWS (which stands for Job Access with Speech) sold by Freedom Scientific.

從一家公司的角度看，採用輔助技術可以讓招聘大不一樣。我們可以看看這個例子，在本週早些時候，我注意到了一家開發客服中心軟件的公司。這家公司位於猶他州，名叫TCN。TCN在他們的雲服務中加入了特色功能，從而讓企業可以僱傭視力低下的人擔任客戶支持工作。只要將他們的軟件與Freedom Scientific公司的“JAWS屏幕閱讀器”連接，就能做到這一點。

“We can roll this out in a matter of hours,” said TCN co-founder CEO Terrel Bird, who positions the technology as useful for any call center organization. “I believe this will be adopted more broadly when agencies realize that they can hire visually impaired people and bring them onside, or have them work remotely, and give them equal footing.”

TCN的共同創始人兼首席執行官特雷爾o伯德表示，這項技術適用於任何客服機構。他說，“我們只需要花幾個小時就能安裝這個功能。我相信一旦公司意識到他們可以僱傭視障人士，讓他們坐班或是遠程工作，並能給他們平等的地位，那麼這項技術就會得到更廣泛的應用。”

In a report issued in late 2013, research firm Gartner estimates that approximately 15% of the world’s population could benefit directly from assistive technologies—and the rest of us will also feel a positive impact from the innovation behind them.

在2013年底發佈的一份報告中，研究公司高德納（Gartner）估計全球有約15%的人口能直接從輔助技術中受益——而其他人也會感受到創新爲他們帶來的正面影響。

“Every day situational disabilities include listening to a conference call in a noisy airport, or using a mobile phone while driving or wearing gloves,” said Gartner analyst Andrew Johnson. “In many cases, assistive technology features will not only help mitigate common environmental factors, but can be used as the foundation to improve security and enhance privacy for everyone.”

高德納的分析師安德魯o約翰遜表示：“人們每天都會遭遇‘情景殘障’，比如在嘈雜的機場收聽電話會議，或是在開車和戴手套時使用手機。許多情況下，輔助技術產品不僅能消除這些普遍的環境障礙，還可以成爲每個人提高安全性、保護隱私的基石。”（財富中文網）