科學家受科幻電影啓發 研發情感探測器大綱

No more second guessing! Blade Runner-style 'emotion detector' could reveal if a person REALLY finds you attractive on a first date

無需再次猜測！“銀翼殺手”風格的“情感探測器”會告訴你，第一次約會時對方是否真的被你所吸引。

First dates can be a nerve-wracking experience, filled with unease and uncertainty over whether or not the other person is interested. But new technology that could help clear up at least some of the mystery surrounding such dates might be on its way.

初次約會是一件非常傷腦筋的經歷，對方是否對自己感興趣，你對此充滿了不安與不確定。但一項新技術，將有助於緩解這種約會可能會帶來的一些神祕的氛圍。

An 'emotion detector' has been created which researchers claim will be able to tell whether or not a person finds you attractive almost instantly.

研究人員發明了一種“情感探測器”，據稱，它可以幫助你判斷對方是否真的被你所吸引。

Researchers at the University of Lancaster were inspired to make the device by a gadget featured in the 1982 sci-fi fantasy film 'Blade Runner'. Replicating the Voight-Kampff machine, a fictional interrogation tool, the research team created a device that mimics this emotion-detector.

英國蘭卡斯特大學的研究人員表示，這件有趣的設備的靈感來自於1982年的經典科幻電影《銀翼殺手》。模仿影片中的一個科幻審問工具Voight-Kampff，研究團隊設計出了這個“情感探測器”。

The polygraph-like Voight-Kampff machine was used by a police force in the film, to determine if an individual was a biorobotic android, detected using a test to provoke emotional responses. It measured body functions like blush response, respiration, heart rate and eye movement in response to questions dealing with empathy.

在《銀翼殺手》中，警察們使用類似測謊儀的Voight-Kampff機器來探測對象的情緒反應，並藉此判斷對方是否是生化機器人。它會測量人體在回答涉及到情緒問題時產生的諸如臉紅、呼吸、心率和瞳孔的變化。

The team's fictional speculative device is set against an online dating backdrop and is designed, in theory, to determine how the first interaction is going. The machine clips onto the bottom of a smartphone or tablet.

研究團隊的這款設備是根據在線約會的背景設計的，從理論上講，它主要用來確認在線約會的雙方第一次接觸時如何反應。這一設備可以安裝在智能手機或者平板電腦的底部。

This machine looks and feels very real and has even prompted a film-making company in the States to request filming us manufacturing the device,' said Professor Coulton, the expert and head of the research team. 'But this is actually a tool for creating some pretty serious discussions.'

該項目專家及研究小組領頭人科爾頓教授說：“這臺機器的外觀和感覺非常真實，甚至吸引了一家電影製作公司提出要拍攝我們製造這臺設備的過程。但它實際上是用來引發一些很嚴肅的討論的工具。”

Design fiction involves speculative design which heralds what might come about in the future world of human computer interaction, said Professor Coulton.

科爾頓教授解釋說，所謂的Design fiction，是一種推測性設計方法，它主要用來預測人機交互的未來可能會發生什麼。

'The factor that differentiates and distinguishes design fiction from other approaches is its novel use of "world building". As an example, we built this world in which rules for detecting empathy will become a major component of future communications. We take inspiration from the sci-fi film "Blade Runner" to consider what a plausible world, in which it is useful to build a Voight-Kampff machine, might be like.'

“區分和區別推測性設計方法與其他方法的一個重要因素在於其對“世界構建”方法的全新應用。在這次研究中，我們把這這個裝置作爲一個例子，用來構建一個情緒檢測成爲未來溝通主要組成部分的一個世界。爲此我們從科幻電影《銀翼殺手》中獲得了靈感，因爲這個電影就虛構了一個類似的世界。”

'People are working towards this kind of thing,' he added. 'What we are doing is questioning whether it has a place in our society - what kind of uses they have and what the world would actually be like with them. We want people to think about the ethical implications of what we do. Technically a lot of this is possible but is it actually what we want?'

“人們正在慢慢把這種事情變爲現實。”他補充說：“我們在做的是質疑它是否會在我們的社會中有位置--它們的用處是什麼，以及有了它們世界會變成什麼樣。我們想要人們去思考這樣一個道德問題--很多東西從技術上是可能的，但是我們真的想要它嗎？”