Tech Industry Turns to Sci-Fi for a Compass
虛擬實境公司向科幻小說乞靈
By Nick Wingfield

Tech companies have spent years developing better, cheaper devices to immerse people in digital worlds. Yet they are still figuring out how to make virtual reality the kind of technology that people cannot live without.
科技公司多年來一直在研發更好、更便宜的裝置，讓人們浸淫在數位世界裡。但他們仍在苦思如何把虛擬實境變成人們生活中不可缺的科技。

So for inspiration, they are turning to science fiction.
因此，為了找靈感，他們找上科幻小說。

At Oculus, a leading virtual reality company, a copy of the popular sci-fi novel “Ready Player One” is handed out to new hires. Magic Leap, a secretive augmented reality startup, has hired science fiction and fantasy writers. The name of Microsoft’s HoloLens headset is a salute to the holodeck, a simulation room from “Star Trek.”
知名的虛擬實境公司Oculus發給新進人員一本暢銷科幻小說「一級玩家」。神秘的擴增實境新創公司Magic Leap已雇用科幻和奇幻作家。微軟的HoloLens頭罩式裝置的名稱，即是向「星際爭霸戰」中的模擬室「全像甲板」（holodeck）致敬。

“Like many other people working in the tech space, I’m not a creative person,” said Palmer Luckey, 23, a co-founder of Oculus, which was bought by Facebook for $2 billion in 2014. “It’s nice that science fiction exists because these are really creative people figuring out what the ultimate use of any technology might be. They come up with a lot of incredible ideas.”
Oculus的共同創辦人、23歲的帕爾默．拉奇說：「我和其他許多在科技界工作的人一樣，不是有創意的人。有科幻小說的存在真好，因為這是些真正有創意的人想像任何科技最終用途可以是什麼。他們想出來很多很棒的點子。」Oculus在2014年被臉書以20億美元買下。

Those ideas are especially relevant now, as some of the biggest technology companies are nearing a major push of a new generation of virtual reality products. In the next few months, virtual reality headsets from Oculus, Sony and HTC go on sale. Venture capital money is pouring into the industry.
現在這些點子尤其重要，一些龍頭科技公司即將大推新一代的虛擬實境產品。在未來幾個月，Oculus、索尼和宏達電的虛擬實境頭罩式裝置將開賣。創投資金正大量投入這個產業。

But how people will interact with the imaginary worlds remains largely unknown territory. And that is where science fiction comes in. Science fiction is shaping the language companies are using to market the technology, influencing the types of experiences made for the headsets and even defining long-term goals for developers.
然而人們將如何與想像的世界互動，大致上仍屬未知之境。而這正是科幻小說派上用場的地方。科幻小說正在形塑各公司用來推銷這項科技的語言，影響為頭盔設計的各種經驗，甚至定義開發商的長期目標。

“Science fiction, in simplest terms, sets you free,” said Ralph Osterhout, chief executive of the Osterhout Design Group, which builds augmented reality glasses.
生產擴增實境眼鏡的奧斯特豪特設計集團執行長芮夫．奧斯特豪特說：「科幻小說，用最簡單的話來說，讓你自由。」

Perhaps no fictional work resonates more throughout the industry these days than “Ready Player One,” written by Ernest Cline and now being made into a movie by Steven Spielberg.
近來也許沒有一部科幻作品能比恩斯特．克萊恩寫的「一級玩家」在整個產業引起更大共鳴，此作正被史蒂芬史匹柏拍成電影。

Much of the action in the book takes place inside the Oasis, a global virtual reality network. Characters in the network attend school, socialize and take part in a high-stakes treasure hunt. Through virtual reality, they can inhabit the perspectives of actors in classic movies.
書中許多情節發生在「綠洲」，一個全球的虛擬實境網絡。網絡中的角色會上學、社交、參加高風險的尋寶活動。透過虛擬實境，他們能夠進入經典電影演員的視野中。

The book was published in 2011, around the time Luckey began building an early prototype of the Oculus headset.
這本書出版於2011年，大約是拉奇開始建造Oculus頭盔初期原型的時期。

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/17/technology/virtual-reality-companies-look-to-science-fiction-for-their-next-play.html

2016-03-13/聯合報/D2版/紐約時報賞析 田思怡譯

說文解字看新聞 田思怡

科技界寄望虛擬實境（virtual reality，簡稱VR）裝置能成為下一個大賣產品。虛擬實境裝置主要是虛擬實境頭戴式裝置（VR headsets），或稱為VR頭盔。

從虛擬實境延伸出來的技術是「擴增實境」（augmented reality，簡稱AR），目標是在螢幕上把虛擬世界套在現實世界裡，並進行互動，也稱為「混合實境」（mixed reality）。與VR裝置不同，戴上擴增實境頭戴式裝置或眼鏡（AR headsets or glasses），仍可以看到周遭的環境。

不管是VR或AR裝置，目標都是把人帶入想像的世界，並與之互動。為了設計人們如何與想像的世界互動（how people will interact with the imaginary worlds），科技公司向科幻小說找靈感（Tech companies are turning to science fiction for inspiration），inspiration是啟發、鼓舞的意思，這裡可翻成靈感。

這就是科幻小說派上用場的地方（That is where science fiction comes in），come in在這裡可翻成派上用場或上場。

A Malaise in Tech Spreads
科技業的不安蔓延中
By Mark Scott

At the offices of Deliveroo, a food delivery startup with headquarters in an upmarket neighborhood here, signs of activity are everywhere. The communal kitchen hums with 20-something developers. A gold-painted scooter, which co-founder William Shu once used to make deliveries, stands in the center of the office as people bustle about.
在餐點外送新創事業Deliveroo位於這高級社區的總部辦公室裡，處處展現著活力。公用廚房裡有許多20來歲的軟體開發者，顯得熱鬧非凡，共同創辦人William Shu曾用來送餐、漆成金色的速克達，就放在辦公室中央人來人往的地方。

The frenetic pace belies a more cautious approach that Shu, 36, a former Morgan Stanley investment banker, has recently started taking at the startup.
忙亂的步調讓人看不出Shu最近開始對這新創事業採取更審慎作法。Shu現年36歲，曾是美國國際金融服務公司摩根士丹利的投資銀行家。

Over the last year, Shu has urged colleagues to be more circumspect with growth plans, forgoing rapid expansion in competitive markets like the United States to focus on places where Deliveroo already has a loyal following. And while the startup has raised almost $200 million, employs roughly 400 people worldwide and operates in 12 countries, Shu says profitability – and not just aggressive growth to beat rivals to new markets – is increasingly important as the company moves beyond its British roots.
過去這一年來，Shu要求同事對擴張計畫更謹慎，放棄在美國等競爭激烈的市場快速擴張，而專注在Deliveroo已有忠實客戶的地方。雖然Deliveroo已募到近2億美元資金，在全球雇用約400人，並在12國營運，但Shu說，當公司向母國英國以外的地方發展時，不只要積極擴張、比對手先打進新市場，獲利狀況也日益重要。

“We need to make the economics work,” he said. “We have to understand that every round of funding must be treated as our last.”
他說：「我們得發揮經濟學精神，必須了解到務必把每回募資當成最後一次。」

The focus at Deliveroo is symptomatic of a change across many European startups. Just as in Silicon Valley, where a number of privately held tech companies have been stung by lower valuations and investor questions about their sustainability, that same unease has now reached Europe’s tech community, in a sign that a move away from soaring boom times in startups is going global.
Deliveroo關心的重點是個徵兆，顯示歐洲各地新創事業的改變。美國矽谷許多未上市科技公司因市值遭低估並被投資人質疑能否長存而受打擊，歐洲科技業現在也感受到同樣的不安，顯示新創事業告別急速成長時期已逐漸變成全球現象。

Driving the pullback are some of the same forces that have caused a change in Silicon Valley’s startup scene. Tech stocks are gyrating because of fears of a global economic slowdown – exacerbated in Europe by the region’s migrant crisis and persistent financial problems. Valuations of some startups worldwide got ahead of themselves. As a result, venture capitalists in Europe and farther afield are becoming more cautious about funding local startups that do not have proven business ideas.
讓新創事業變謹慎的因素，部分與改變矽谷新創事業風貌的因素相同。科技股股價因為投資人擔心全球經濟成長趨緩而劇烈波動，在歐洲，股價波動現象因移民危機與長期財政問題而更嚴重。世界各地都有一些新創事業的市值被高估。所以，歐洲與更遠處其他地方的創投家對資助商業點子未獲市場證明可行的地方性新創事業，變得更為審慎。

“When Silicon Valley sneezes, the rest of the world catches a cold,” said Fred Destin, a partner at the London office of Accel Partners, a venture capital firm.
創投公司Accel Partners倫敦辦公室合夥人戴斯汀說：「矽谷打噴嚏，全球就感冒。

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/24/technology/european-tech-scene-begins-to-feel-silicon-valleys-woes.html

2016-03-13/聯合報/D2版/紐約時報賞析 李京倫譯