第三篇
Pool Watch
Swimmers can drown in busy swimming pools when lifeguards fail to notice that they are in trouble. A report says that on average 15 people drown in British pools each year, but many more suffer major injury after getting into difficulties. Now a French company has developed an artificial intelligence system called Poseidon that sounds the alarm when it sees someone in danger of drowning.
When a swimmer sinks towards the bottom of the pool, the new system sends an alarm signal to a poolside monitoring station and a lifeguard's pager (呼機(jī)). In trials at a pool in Ancenis, near Nantes, it saved a life within just a few months, says Alistair McQuade, a spokesman for its maker, Poseidon Technologies.
Poseidon keeps watch through a network of underwater and overhead video cameras. AI software analyses the images to work out swimmers' trajectories (軌跡). To do this reliably, it has to tell the difference between a swimmer and the shadow of someone being cast onto the bottom or side of the pool.
It does the same with an image from another camera viewing the shape from a different angle. If the two projections are in the same position, the shape is identified as a shadow and is ignored. But if they are different, the shape is a swimmer and so the system follows its trajectory.
To pick out potential drowning victims, anyone in the water who starts to descend slowly is added to the software's "pre-alert" (預(yù)先警戒) list, says McQuade. Swimmers who then stay immobile on the pool bottom for 5 seconds or more are considered in danger of drowning. Poseidon double-checks that the image really is of a swimmer, not a shadow, by seeing whether it obscures (使模糊) the pool's floor texture when viewed from overhead. If so, it alerts the lifeguard, showing the swimmer's location on a poolside screen.
The first full-scale Poseidon system will be officially opened next week at a pool in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. One man who is impressed with the idea is Travor Baylis, inventor of the clockwork (時鐘裝置) radio. Baylis runs a company that installs swimming pools - and he was once an underwater escapologist (脫身雜技演員) with a circus (馬戲團(tuán)). "1 say full marks to them if this works and can save lives," he says.
11 AI means the same as
A an image.
B an idea.
C anything immobile.
D artificial intelligence
12 To save a life, AI software must be able to
A descend in the water.
B videotape every movement.
C distinguish between a swimmer and a shadow
D save a life within a few months.
13 How does Poseidon save a life?
A It orders an underwater robot to rescue the drowning swimmer.
B It alerts the lifeguard.
C It displays the swimmer's shadow on the screen.
D It watches the pool through dozens of overhead cameras.
14 Which of the following statements about Travor Baylis is NOT true?
A He owns a swimming pool.
B He invented the clockwork radio.
C He was once an entertainer.
D He runs a company.
15 How does Baylis look at the Poseidon system?
A He thinks it is too expensive.
B He thinks it is a good system.
C He thinks it is not efficient enough.
D He thinks it is as good as the British pool Watch system.
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