美文选刊｜未来的服装有多智能

Original WE 英语世界

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The Future of Smart Clothing

智能服装的未来

By Maria Temming

文/玛丽亚·特明

译/姚刚黄智婕

New materials and devices could make clothes safer, comfier and more convenient.

新的材料和设计能让服装更安全、更舒适，也更便利。

Our clothes do a lot for us. They keep us warm in the winter or cool while we’re working out. They let us dress to impress or comfortably veg out on the couch. But some researchers think our clothes could be doing even more. Those scientists and engineers are dreaming up new ways to make clothes safer, comfier or just more convenient.

服装有很多功用：冬日助我们御寒，锻炼时使我们感觉清爽；服装可以让我们给人留下深刻印象，也让人窝在沙发上打发时间时感觉舒适。然而一些研究者认为，服装的功用远不止这些。这些研究者和工程设计人员正在探索新的设计，以使服装更安全、更舒适，或仅仅是更便利。

Some ideas for new apparel aim to protect people from harm. One new shoe design, for example, features pop-out spikes on the sole that grip the ground. This could help people keep their footing on slippery or uneven terrain. A new fabric coating, meanwhile, could absorb and neutralize some chemical weapons. That coating is made from a metal-organic framework that snags and breaks down harmful compounds. It could offer a lightweight shield to people in war-torn countries.

一些新式服装的设计旨在让人们免受伤害。比如，一种采用新式设计的鞋子，鞋底上的防滑鞋钉可以紧紧抓住地面。这可以让人们在光滑或者不平坦的地面上站稳。同时，还有一种新式的织物涂层，能够吸收和中和某些化学武器。这种涂层是一种金属-有机骨架化合物材料，能阻滞和分解有害的化合物，给饱受战乱之苦的人们提供一种轻质的护盾。

Not all advanced attire is designed to save lives. Some could just make clothes more comfortable. One day, for instance, you may not need to layer up to stay warm. Fabric embedded with nanowires could reflect your body heat back onto your skin. Electric current humming through those metal threads could provide warmth, too. This may be especially useful for hikers, soldiers or others working in super cold conditions.

采用先进设计理念的服装并非都是为了挽救生命。有些可能就是为了让人们穿起来更加舒适。比如，有朝一日，你可能无须层层加衣来御寒。嵌入了纳米导线的织物能把身体散发的热量反射回皮肤。这些金属线里穿梭的电流也能保暖。这项设计对远足者、士兵或者在极寒条件下作业的人尤为适用。

On the flip side, another new fabric traps very little body heat. Tiny pores in this material are just the right size to block visible light waves—so the material isn’t see-through—but let infrared waves pass through. Those waves carry heat away from your body to keep you cool.

还有另外一种设计理念相反的织物，它几乎不吸收身体所散发的热量。这种织物上有微孔，其大小恰好能阻挡可见光波——所以该材料是不透光的——但却能让红外线穿过。红外线能带走身体的热量，从而使人感到凉爽。

Some researchers have dreamt up wholly new uses for clothing—like turning wearers into walking power outlets. Flexible solar panels sewn into fabric could soak up the sun to recharge phones or other devices on the go. And some types of fabric could harvest energy directly from a wearer’s motion. Triboelectric materials, for example, can generate electricity when bent or flexed. (Friction between different parts of the material builds up charge, like rubbing your hair against a balloon.) Piezoelectric materials, which produce charge when squeezed or twisted, could be fashioned into outfits, too.

一些研究者已经构想出了服装的全新用途。比如让服装的穿戴者成为移动的电源终端。缝制在织物中的柔性太阳能电池板可以吸收并转化太阳能，为手机或其他移动设备充电。有些类型的织物可以直接从穿戴者的运动中获取能量。例如，摩擦电材料在弯曲或者变形时就可以发电。（这种材料不同部分之间的摩擦会产生电荷，和用头发摩擦气球产生的效果一样。）压电材料在受到挤压或发生扭曲时会产生电荷，也可以用于制作服装。

While some fabrics help charge devices, others could serve as devices themselves. In one recent experiment, researchers stitched conductive thread into a t-shirt. This turned the shirt into an antenna that could send signals to a smartphone. Another team threaded fabric with magnetized copper and silver to write data into fabrics. Such data-packed fabric could be used as a hands-free key or form of ID.

有些织物可以给设备充电，而有些织物本身就可以作为设备使用。在最近的一项实验中，研究者们将导线缝入一件T恤衫，使这件T恤衫变成了可以向智能手机发送信号的天线。另外一个研究小组将磁化的铜丝和银丝穿在织物中，使织物可以写入数据。这种载有数据的织物可以用作无接触钥匙，也可用于身份识别。

Many of these ideas have not yet left the lab—and they’re still pretty far from hitting retail racks. But inventors hope these and other innovations could someday let you get more from your wardrobe.

目前，智能服装的诸多设计理念仍处于实验阶段。这样的服装距离上架零售还相当遥远。但发明者们希望有朝一日，这些以及其他与服装有关的创意能让人们通过穿衣享受更多便利。

（选自《英语世界》2022年第11期）