【导读】近日，重庆大学能源互联网及智能装备协同创新中心副主任、重庆大学电气工程学院特聘研究员、“90后”博士生导师陶璐琪的一项研究成果引起关注：通过石墨烯，可帮助聋哑人士“说话”，实现与他人的交流。
How wonderful would it be if new technology could help the physically challenged? A smart wearable device that enables people with speaking disabilities to communicate normally is giving hope to those without a voice.
如果新科技能帮助残疾人士，那该有多好？一种智能可穿戴的装置可以帮助语言障碍人士正常交流，为其带来希望。
Tao Luqi, a research fellow at Chongqing University, used a material called graphene to produce an artificial throat with a tiny sensor that allows people with speech impairments to speak normally, according to a paper published in Nature Communications in 2017. Tao has continued his work on the device for the last four years.
据2017年发表在《自然通讯》上的一篇论文称，重庆大学研究员陶璐琪使用石墨烯材料，制备出一种带有小感应器的人工喉，可以帮助语言障碍人士正常“说话”。在过去四年间，陶璐琪都在坚持研究这一装置。
Although it’s a tiny mechanical sensor, it can work wonders. The device can detect weak vibrations and can produce sounds across a wide spectrum, from 100Hz to 40kHz, China Daily reported. Humans can detect sounds in a frequency range from about 20Hz to 20kHz.
虽然这是个微小的机械装置，但它可以创造奇迹。这个装置可以检测到微弱的振动，发出100Hz-40kHz的宽频谱声音，《中国日报》报道称。人耳可感知的声音频率在20Hz-20kHz之间。
“Although the speaking impaired people can’t speak, their throats can vibrate,” Tao told The Paper. “If I put a device made of graphene into the throat of a person, it can detect the vibrations and make sounds using electrical signals.”
“聋哑人士虽然不能说话，但是喉咙可以震动，”陶璐琪在接受澎湃新闻采访时表示。“如果我把一个石墨烯装置放在人的喉咙处，它就可以检测喉咙的震动，通过电信号发出声音。”
Even whispers, screams and coughs at different frequencies can be recorded and encoded by the device, and it can arrange them into groups. When the device detects the sounds in a particular group, it will reproduce the words, phrases or sentences, according to Tao.
陶璐琪称，甚至不同频率的低语、尖叫、咳嗽都可以被这一装置记录下来、编码、分类。当这一装置检测出特定组别里的声音时，就会转化出单字、短语或句子。
“But the speaking impaired people need to classify their own language sounds in groups and memorize them, just like typing keys on a keyboard,” Tao said.
“但聋哑人士需要将自己的声音分类并记住，就像敲键盘上的字母键一样，”陶璐琪称。
Tao’s artificial throat has brought the possibilities of graphene to reality. It’s been 17 years since the discovery of graphene, and the world has been waiting for the “wonder material” to provide groundbreaking innovations. At only the width of an atom, graphene is the thinnest material known to humans – and also the strongest. The material is also an efficient conductor of heat and electricity, and is ultra-lightweight, China Daily reported.
陶璐琪研制的人工喉使石墨烯的种种可能性变为现实。人们发现石墨烯已有17年之久，世界都在等待这个“神奇材料”带来突破性创新。石墨烯只有一个原子那么宽，是人类已知的最薄、最坚硬的材料。这种材料还具备很强的导电导热性能，重量超轻，《中国日报》报道称。
“Graphene really does have fantastic properties and its potential is huge,” said Khasha Ghaffarzadeh, a director at UK-based research consultancy IDTechEx.
“石墨烯确实具有优异的特性，它的潜力巨大，”总部位于英国的研究公司IDTechEx总监Khasha Ghaffarzadeh表示。
China has emerged as a key country for graphene production. Around 3,000 Chinese companies are exploring uses for graphene, according to government statistics in 2018, while half of the world’s graphene-related patents have been filed in China, according to China Daily.
中国已经成为石墨烯生产的主要国家。据《中国日报》称，2018年相关部门统计数据显示，约3000家中国企业正在探索石墨烯应用，全球一半的石墨烯专利来自中国。
“It’s a brand-new science, and China is trying to take the lead,” said Neill Ricketts, chief executive at Versarien, a UK-based advanced material company.
“这是全新的科学领域，中国正在努力占据领先地位，”制造先进材料的英国沃萨润公司首席执行官尼尔·里基茨表示。
