宜誠鼎峰社區

Getting behind the wheel has long been considered impossible for the blind. That could soon change. The National Federation of the Blind and Virginia Tech plan to demonstrate a prototype vehicle next year equipped with technology that helps a blind person drive a car independently.

失明的人長期以來被視為沒辦法開車，那種情況可能很快就要改變了，國立盲人聯盟與維吉尼亞理工，計畫在明年展示一種原型車，其所配備的科技可以協助失明者獨立開車。

The technology, called "nonvisual interfaces," uses sensors to let a blind driver maneuver a car based on information transmitted to him about his surroundings：whether another car or object is nearby, in front of him or in a neighboring lane.

這種科技稱為「非視覺介面」，使用感應器，讓眼盲駕駛人根據傳送給他的周邊環境資訊來操作車輛：不管是另一輛車或是物體接近、在他面前、或是在旁邊車道。

Advocates for the blind consider it a "moon shot," a goal similar to President John F. Kennedy’s pledge to land a man on the moon. For many blind people, driving a car long has been considered impossible. But researchers hope the project could revolutionize mobility and challenge long-held assumptions about limitations.

為盲人權益奔走的人，認為這就像甘迺迪總統誓言要讓人類登月的計畫。對盲人來說，開車一直被認為是不可能的，不過研究人員希望，這項計畫可以為移動帶來革命，挑戰長期以來對極限的看法。

新聞辭典

surroundings：名詞，環境。例句：They live in very comfortable surroundings.（他們居住的環境非常舒服。）

equip：動詞，裝備。例句：All the police officers were equipped with shields to defend themselves against the rioters.（所有警員都拿到盾牌，幫他們對付暴徒。）

revolutionize：動詞，徹底改革。例句：Newton’s discoveries revolutionized physics.（牛頓的發現為物理學帶來革命。）