Cat lovers of the world, rejoice! You finally have the chance to understand what your pet is saying thanks to a smart collar that can interpret feline meows and translate it into human speech. Aptly named "Catterbox", the collar supposedly has a digital sensor that detects meows, and uses a special program to decipher the meaning behind them.
全世界的鏟屎官們，歡呼吧！托智能項(xiàng)圈的福，你們終于有機(jī)會(huì)聽(tīng)懂自己的寵物在說(shuō)什么了。這款項(xiàng)圈可以把貓語(yǔ)翻譯成人話，叫作“貓語(yǔ)匣子”可謂名副其實(shí)，里面應(yīng)該裝著一個(gè)探測(cè)貓叫的數(shù)字傳感器，通過(guò)特殊程序破譯其中的意義。

Developed by London ad agency adam&eveDDB, for Temptations cat treats, the invention comes preloaded with a dictionary of cat purrs, meows, and several other sounds to make the interpretation as accurate as possible. "We're fascinated by cats, so we set out on a mission to get to know them better," said Pete Simmons, global brand director of Temptations.
這款貓語(yǔ)項(xiàng)圈是由倫敦adam&eveDDB廣告公司給貓零食品牌Temptations研發(fā)的，里面預(yù)置了貓語(yǔ)詞典，包括嗚嗚叫、喵喵叫和其它一些語(yǔ)音，使翻譯盡可能準(zhǔn)確。Temptations公司全球品牌總監(jiān)皮特?西蒙斯說(shuō)：“我們?yōu)樨堉?，所以我們進(jìn)行此項(xiàng)任務(wù)來(lái)更好地了解它們。”

The promo video for the device claims that Catterbox, the world's first talking cat collar, is designed to finally help humans understand the meaning of meows. "Cats are often perceived as quite hard to get to know, independent pets, so we set up The Temptations Lab to find innovative ways to inject even more fun into a cat and owner's relationship," said Richard Brim, executive creative director of adam&eveDDB.
這個(gè)小發(fā)明的宣傳視頻稱貓語(yǔ)匣子是世界上第一款會(huì)說(shuō)話的貓項(xiàng)圈，借助它，人們終于可以理解貓叫的意義。adam&eveDDB公司執(zhí)行創(chuàng)意總監(jiān)理查德?布里姆說(shuō)：“人們通常認(rèn)為貓很難懂，而且非常獨(dú)立，所以我們?cè)O(shè)立了The Temptation實(shí)驗(yàn)室，探索創(chuàng)新方法，給貓和主人的關(guān)系注入更多樂(lè)趣。

"Studies show they only meow in order to communicate with humans," the video adds. "So we set out on a mission to get to know them better. By analysing different cat noises, we've designed a digital sensor that detects a cat's meow and uses a unique program to turn it into a human voice."
視頻中還講，“研究表明，貓為了和人交流才會(huì)叫。所以我們進(jìn)行此項(xiàng)任務(wù)來(lái)更好地了解它們。通過(guò)分析貓的不同叫聲，我們?cè)O(shè)計(jì)出一個(gè)可以探測(cè)貓叫的數(shù)字傳感器，用特別的程序把貓叫轉(zhuǎn)化成人聲?！?/p>

So by using the collar, owners can speak to their cats and expect a meaningful response – well, about as meaningful as a cat’s meows can get. The sassy responses are delivered in a British accent, in a voice of the owner's choice, selected through a smartphone app paired with the collar. A few sample responses are demonstrated on the company's YouTube channel – they are quite hilarious, but obviously not very convincing.
因此，通過(guò)這款項(xiàng)圈，貓奴們可以和喵星人對(duì)話，期待著有意義的回應(yīng)——嗯，貓叫有多少意義就差不多能傳達(dá)出多少意義。這種時(shí)髦的應(yīng)答裝置發(fā)出的聲音是英式英語(yǔ)，主人可以通過(guò)與項(xiàng)圈連接的智能手機(jī)應(yīng)用自己選擇嗓音。這個(gè)公司的YouTube網(wǎng)頁(yè)上列著幾個(gè)應(yīng)答的示例，非常搞笑，但顯然并不能令人信服。

In all probability, Catterbox is just a tongue-in-cheek albeit very clever marketing gimmick. If you really want to learn the meaning of cat meows, you're better off keeping an eye on "Meowsic" (short for "Melody in Human-Cat Communication"), a Swedish study carried out over the next five years.
貓語(yǔ)匣子十有八九只是個(gè)唬人的玩意，盡管市場(chǎng)營(yíng)銷做得非常巧妙。如果你真的想要了解貓語(yǔ)的意義，你最好關(guān)注一下Meowsic（“人貓對(duì)話旋律”的縮寫(xiě)），這是瑞典的一項(xiàng)研究，五年之后才能得出結(jié)果。

Vocabulary

feline: 貓科的；貓科動(dòng)物
decipher: 破譯
sassy: 時(shí)髦的
gimmick: 花招

英文來(lái)源：odditycentral
譯者：實(shí)習(xí)生孫美真
審校&編輯：丹妮