Google's self-driving cars have gone a total of 100,000 miles with no accidents and now the company is working towards making their vehicles even safer.
谷歌的無(wú)人駕駛汽車(chē)已累計(jì)安全行駛10萬(wàn)英里（約16.1萬(wàn)公里），未發(fā)生任何事故?，F(xiàn)在，谷歌正致力于將無(wú)人駕駛汽車(chē)打造得更加安全。

The software giant recently secured a patent for technology to communicate with pedestrians.
最近，該軟件巨頭獲得了“可與行人溝通”的無(wú)人駕駛技術(shù)專(zhuān)利。

Screens and/or a speaker system could be used to help the cars and humans coexist safely on the road.
公司為這種汽車(chē)安裝了屏幕和（或）揚(yáng)聲系統(tǒng)，能確保汽車(chē)和行人在道路上并行不悖。

The details of the patent reveal the car will be able to sense when a person is standing in front or close to it and will then decide the next step to take.
專(zhuān)利詳情顯示，行人站在汽車(chē)前方或靠近汽車(chē)時(shí)，無(wú)人駕駛汽車(chē)可感知到這種情況，并決定采取何種策略。

The screens, which could be mounted on the doors or hood could flash alerts like ‘Stop’, ‘Safe Cross’ or a traffic sign that would inform pedestrians about what the car is doing.
此時(shí)，安裝在汽車(chē)門(mén)和引擎蓋上的屏幕會(huì)閃現(xiàn)警示信息，比如“停止”、“請(qǐng)安全通過(guò)”，或發(fā)出相關(guān)交通信號(hào)，示意行人它將怎樣行駛。

The speaker system could vocalize the text shown on the screens and send out other alerts.
揚(yáng)聲系統(tǒng)可以念出屏幕上的字，或發(fā)出其他警示。

The patent says, ‘the vehicle may include sensors which detect an object such as a pedestrian attempting or about to cross the roadway in front of the vehicle.'
該專(zhuān)利顯示：“無(wú)人駕駛汽車(chē)可能配有傳感器，用于檢測(cè)是否有行人意圖或即將于車(chē)前橫穿馬路?！?/p>

'The vehicle’s computer may then determine the correct way to respond to the pedestrian.'
“無(wú)人駕駛汽車(chē)的電腦將因此采取正確的應(yīng)對(duì)方式?！?/p>

'The vehicle may then provide a notification to the pedestrian of what the vehicle is going to do or is currently doing.'
“而后，汽車(chē)會(huì)告知行人它的行進(jìn)計(jì)劃或目前的行駛方向?！?/p>

This past Halloween, Google was teaching cars how to recognize children in their costumes, part of a feature that is educating them how to react and act around children.
剛過(guò)去的萬(wàn)圣節(jié)期間，谷歌對(duì)無(wú)人駕駛汽車(chē)進(jìn)行了試驗(yàn)，讓它們學(xué)會(huì)辨認(rèn)兒童的身影。該計(jì)劃也是無(wú)人汽車(chē)兒童適應(yīng)性的一部分。

And this patent takes this feature one step forward by including all pedestrians.
這項(xiàng)新專(zhuān)利則讓上述性能更進(jìn)了一步——將所有行人都考慮在內(nèi)。

There is also an indication of an eye or robotic arm will be added that could notify pedestrians the car has ‘seen’ them.
該專(zhuān)利還顯示，無(wú)人駕駛汽車(chē)可能會(huì)安裝電子眼或機(jī)械手臂，知會(huì)行人汽車(chē)已經(jīng)“看見(jiàn)”他們了。

The arm could mimic that of a humans, as it ‘sweeps’ for pedestrians to cross, but the message could come across unclear when it’s coming from a robot and not a real person.
機(jī)械手臂可以模仿人的動(dòng)作，向過(guò)馬路的行人“揮手”。但由于這個(gè)動(dòng)作并不是出自真人，所以很有可能讓行人一頭霧水。

Currently, no sketches have been released of how the system would work or look, but it appears to be similar to a system Nissan showed off last month.
目前為止，谷歌尚未公布該系統(tǒng)的運(yùn)行細(xì)節(jié)或具體樣子。但外界認(rèn)為，該系統(tǒng)很有可能與尼桑上個(gè)月展出的一個(gè)相關(guān)系統(tǒng)類(lèi)似。

However, Google applied for their patent back in 2012.
不過(guò)，谷歌早在2012年就申請(qǐng)了該專(zhuān)利。

For Nissan’s futuristic vehicles, it envisions an outward-facing display in side of the windshield that tells pedestrians when the car is about to stop or if it wants someone to cross ahead of it.
在尼桑的這一未來(lái)汽車(chē)構(gòu)想中，擋風(fēng)玻璃有朝外的顯示屏，告知行人汽車(chē)將要停下，或是讓前方行人先行。

In the company’s video, it shows a driver pushing a button and the steering wheel unravels then recedes back into the dashboard.
尼桑的宣傳視頻顯示，司機(jī)按下一個(gè)按鈕，方向盤(pán)即解體，并縮回儀表盤(pán)內(nèi)。

These new vehicles can only be summoned on a smartphone from a garage to meet the driver and will greet them by name.
這種新型汽車(chē)只能通過(guò)智能手機(jī)從車(chē)庫(kù)召喚到司機(jī)面前，它們還會(huì)叫司機(jī)的名字，跟他們打招呼。

Vocabulary
self-driving car：無(wú)人駕駛汽車(chē)
vocalize：以嗓音發(fā)出；說(shuō)出

英文來(lái)源：每日郵報(bào)
譯者：許楠楠
審校&編輯：杜娟