墨尔本PTE素材库——Pro Baseball Player Tech Avatars Could Be a Hit

墨尔本PTE素材库——Pro Baseball Player Tech Avatars Could Be a Hit

中文批注

很多人都说棒球中要击中球是一件非常难的事情，这段Podcast就讲述了一家公司开发了一款叫做“Smart Bat”的传感器和APP，试图从科学的角度来让“击球”这件事变得容易一些。

澳大利亚语言学院会定期整理一些PTE的素材库，旨在用这些与Question Criteria高度契合的素材，让大家在平日复习的时候有题可练，有素材可学习。光靠PTE官方所给出的那些复习材料，想要大幅度的提升自身英语水平，其实是远远不够的。

这段材料没有太多生词，话题也是普通的科技类，适合用来练习Re-tell Lecture，Repeat Sentence，或者用Transcript来练习阅读。大家在听完或者读完这篇文章之后，可以尝试用自己的话解释一下Smart Bat这个传感器和APP到底是怎么工作的，什么原理。

【key Vocabulary】

swing v. & n. 摆动，挥舞

data n. 数据

reenacts v.重新定制

comment v. 评论

squarely adv.直角地，诚实地

stroke n. 中风

approach n. 方法，途径

neuroscience n. 神经系统科学

internal adj. 内部的，内在的

mechanism n. 机制，原理，途径

pitch n. 投掷

knob n. 球形突出物

accelerometer n. 加速计

gyroscope n. 陀螺仪

onscreen adj. & adv. 银幕上的

adjustment n. 调整，调节

racket n. 球拍

mince words 拐弯抹角，说话不直爽

Full Transcript

Smart Bat sensor captures swing data and reenacts the motion on a smartphone app. Larry Greenemeier reports.

Hall of Famer Ted Williams once famously commented that hitting a baseball is the hardest thing to do in sports. Although Williams—a .344 career hitter—made it look easy, he had a point. Hitting a round ball with a round bat squarely is difficult. It’s also an excellent example of some very entertaining applied physics.

No surprise then that professional baseball players are turning to science to improve their multimillion-dollar strokes. Some approaches focus on the neuroscience of hitting—the deep internal brain mechanisms behind seeing the pitch and reacting to it. But for more info about the swing itself, a sports tech company called Zepp Labs makes a sensor that can help break down those mechanics.

The sensor sits in the knob of the company’s so-called “Smart Bat” and uses two accelerometers and a three-axis gyroscope to measure bat speed, hand speed, attack angle and other factors. The sensor, which weighs only about eight grams, sends this info to a smartphone app via Bluetooth. The app can then use this data to have an onscreen avatar reenact the swing, in the hope that the batter can pick up some details and make the necessary adjustments. Zepp’s sensors can also be fitted to golf clubs and tennis rackets.

Never one to mince words, Ted Williams also once said that pitchers were “the stupidest people alive.” Hmm, maybe somebody could come up with a smart baseball to help them. Against any Ted Williamses out there, anyway.

—Larry Greenemeier

(Source: http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode/pro-baseball-player-tech-avatars-could-be-a-hit/)