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Pool Watch

Swimmers can drown in busy swimming pools when lifeguards fail to notice that they are in trouble. A report says that on average 15 people drown in British pools each year, but many more suffer major injury after getting into difficulties. Now a French company has developed an artificial intelligence system called Poseidon that sounds the alarm when it sees someone in danger of drowning.

When a swimmer sinks towards the bottom of the pool, the new system sends an alarm signal to a poolside monitoring station and a lifeguard's pager (呼机). In trials at a pool in Ancenis, near Nantes, it saved a life within just a few months, says Alistair McQuade, a spokesman for its maker, Poseidon Technologies.

Poseidon keeps watch through a network of underwater and overhead video cameras. AI software analyses the images to work out swimmers' trajectories (轨迹). To do this reliably, it has to tell the difference between a swimmer and the shadow of someone being cast onto the bottom or side of the pool.

It does the same with an image from another camera viewing the shape from a different angle. If the two projections are in the same position, the shape is identified as a shadow and is ignored. But if they are different, the shape is a swimmer and so the system follows its trajectory.

To pick out potential drowning victims, anyone in the water who starts to descend slowly is added to the software's "pre-alert" (预先警戒) list, says McQuade. Swimmers who then stay immobile on the pool bottom for 5 seconds or more are considered in danger of drowning. Poseidon double-checks that the image really is of a swimmer, not a shadow, by seeing whether it obscures (使模糊) the pool's floor texture when viewed from overhead. If so, it alerts the lifeguard, showing the swimmer's location on a poolside screen.

The first full-scale Poseidon system will be officially opened next week at a pool in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. One man who is impressed with the idea is Travor Baylis, inventor of the clockwork (时钟装置) radio. Baylis runs a company that installs swimming pools - and he was once an underwater escapologist (脱身杂技演员) with a circus (马戏团). "1 say full marks to them if this works and can save lives," he says.

11 AI means the same as

A　an image.

B　an idea.

C　anything immobile.

D　artificial intelligence

12 To save a life, AI software must be able to

A　descend in the water.

B　videotape every movement.

C　distinguish between a swimmer and a shadow

D　save a life within a few months.

13 How does Poseidon save a life?

A　It orders an underwater robot to rescue the drowning swimmer.

B　It alerts the lifeguard.

C　It displays the swimmer's shadow on the screen.

D　It watches the pool through dozens of overhead cameras.

14 Which of the following statements about Travor Baylis is NOT true?

A　He owns a swimming pool.

B　He invented the clockwork radio.

C　He was once an entertainer.

D　He runs a company.

15 How does Baylis look at the Poseidon system?

A　He thinks it is too expensive.

B　He thinks it is a good system.

C　He thinks it is not efficient enough.

D　He thinks it is as good as the British pool Watch system.

参考答案：11. D　 12. C　 13. B　 14. A　 15. B

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