苹果手表真能改变旅行体验吗

Apple’s new smartwatch can track your heart rate, pay for your Chicken McNuggets and give you turn-by-turn directions by sending vibrations to your wrist. You can even buy one in 18-karat gold. The device, which will be available early next year, is the latest in slick, wearable technology, a growing category that includes Google Glass, Jawbone’s Up fitness tracker and Liquid Image’s goggle-cameras.

苹果新推出的智能手表能追踪你的心率，在你买麦乐鸡的时候付款，每拐一个弯就能通过手腕上的震动向你报告方位。你甚至还可以买个18K金版的。谷歌眼镜、能追踪体重的卓棒手环(Jawbone’s Up)和Liquid Image的护目镜摄像机都属于时尚光鲜的可穿戴技术，这个品种目前正在日益增加，苹果手表正是其中最新的一种，将于明年年初上市。

But are these innovations really game-changers for travelers?

但对于旅行者们来说，这些创新真是改变规则的大事吗？

On one hand it’s amusing to contemplate the promise of wearable technology, or wearables, when the travel industry is still trying to solve basic problems like how to board 300 people onto an airplane without the process devolving into a stampede. I’m reminded of the psychologist Abraham Maslow’s “hierarchy of needs” — the pyramid that illustrates how rudimentary physiological requirements like food and shelter must be met before we can concern ourselves with less crucial desires. If there were such a pyramid for travel, boarding a plane with Jetsons-style alacrity would come before watches and glasses that alert us to the nearest Margaritaville.

一方面，旅游行业仍然在努力解决最基本的问题，诸如怎样让300人登上飞机而不至于引起混乱场面之类，在这样的时候讨论可穿戴技术未免可笑。我想起心理学家亚伯拉罕·马斯洛(Abraham Maslow)的“需求层次” 理论——那是一张金字塔图，指出人们必须首先满足食物与住处等身体的基本需求，才能去考虑其他较次要的欲望。如果也给旅行画一张需求层次图，“能像‘杰森一家’(Jetsons)那样麻利快活地登机”肯定要排在“能告诉我附近有没有玛格丽特维拉饭馆的手表和眼镜”前面。

On the other hand, wearables, particularly the Apple Watch, could eventually transform the way we travel. Given that sensors on the back of the device can track your pulse rate, perhaps it might also detect if you’re becoming unruly during a flight and follow up with a zap to your wrist and a stress-reduction video?

但是另一方面，可穿戴设备可能最终会改变我们旅行的方式，特别是苹果手表。这件设备背后的传感器可以追踪你的脉搏，所以，或许它还能够检测出你在飞行中有点不舒服，然后就跟你玩一个在手心上写字的游戏，然后再给你放一段减压的录像？

Fantasies aside, some technology and travel experts see real-world potential in wearables, even though many are most likely years away from being what we want them to be.

先把这些胡思乱想放在一边，有些技术专家和旅游专家看好可穿戴设备在现实生活中的潜力，尽管其中很多功能很可能要过很多年才能满足我们的期望。

Take smartwatches, which are already available from brands including LG, Motorola and Sony. They’re good at pushing information and alerts from your calendar to your wrist, where it’s easily glanced. The wrinkle, said James L. McQuivey, an analyst at Forrester Research, is that most smartwatches are clunky and impersonal. They cannot pinpoint where you are or what you want, so the information they provide is not game-changing. “A traveler needs that friend that’s sitting on their wrist that says, ‘I know you, I know what you like,’ ” he said. “That’s the kind of thing that Apple can do.”

就拿智能手表来说吧，目前LG、摩托罗拉和索尼等品牌都推出了智能手表，它们可以把信息和提示从你的日历推送到你的手腕上，更方便你观看。弗里斯特研究公司(Forrester Research)的分析师詹姆斯·L·麦克奎维(James L. McQuivey)说，问题是，大多数智能手表都很笨重，一点也不人性化。它们不能定位你在什么地点，你需要什么，所以它们提供的都不是具有颠覆性意义的信息。“旅行者需要的是一个手腕上的朋友，能对你说：‘我认识你，我知道你喜欢什么’，”他说。“苹果就能做到这样的事情。”

A wearable should be a coach, Mr. McQuivey said a day before the Apple news conference in Cupertino, Calif., “someone who knows more about what you need than you do.”

就在苹果公司新闻发布会于加州库比蒂诺举行的前一天，麦克奎维说，可穿戴设备应该成为你的教练，“它可以比你自己更清楚你的需求。”

Indeed, during the conference, Apple said that over time the watch’s Workout app “gets to know you the way a personal trainer would” and suggests goals based on your workout history. This ability to use your personal data and history to suggest things you might want is what could put Apple ahead of its competitors, Mr. McQuivey said. Who knows what kinds of personalized real-time recommendations the Apple Watch might be capable of making in the future? Airport restaurants you’re likely to enjoy? Museum exhibitions?

在第二天的发布会上，苹果公司的确声称，随着时间过去，苹果手表的健身应用“可以像你的私人教练一样了解你”，并基于你的健身历史向你提出建议。麦克奎维说，这种基于你的个人数据和历史来向你推荐东西的能力可能会让苹果领先于竞争对手。在未来，苹果手表有能力做出什么样的个人定制实时推荐呢，你可能会喜欢的机场餐厅？你可能会喜欢的博物馆展览？谁知道呢。

But let’s get to what will actually be available early next year when the Apple Watch comes to market. One of the biggest boons for travelers involves maps and GPS: Walk through a city and the watch can deliver different vibrations to your wrist to indicate whether you should turn left or right, so you don’t have to wander the streets peering at a tiny device (or be a good map-reader) to know which way to go. “It’s like having this invisible guide with you,” Kevin Lynch, vice president of technology for Apple, said during the news conference.

但是我们先来看看明年初上市的苹果手表能干什么。对于旅行者来说，最大的好处之一就是它的地图和GPS导航：在城市漫步的时候，这块表可以在你的手腕上制造不同的震动，提示你应当左转或右转，这样你想去什么地方，就不用盯着一个小小的设备使劲看，或者成为一个擅长看地图的人。“就像随身带了一个看不见的导游，”苹果公司的技术副总裁凯文·林奇(Kevin Lynch)在发布会上说。

Another helpful travel component is the watch’s health and fitness features, particularly its ability to show how often you’ve taken a break from sitting. The watch senses when you stand up and logs that information. Sitting too long? The Apple Watch reminds you to get up — welcome prodding for those who spend hours in cars or planes.

苹果手表在健康和体重方面的特色也对旅行很有帮助，特别是它能够向你显示，隔多长时间就应该站起来走走。坐得太久了？苹果手表提示你该站起来了——这对于那些要长时间在汽车或飞机里度过的人来说是个很好的提醒。

As you might expect, the watch will also have apps from leading travel brands such as American Airlines and Starwood, although it’s hard to get excited because versions of such apps are available on smartphones and tablets. There are a few twists: An app from Starwood, for instance, will allow you to unlock your room at any W Hotel in the world by waving your watch in front of the door. But frankly, opening my hotel room door with my watch was never on my wish list.

正如你所期待的，这款手表还提供大旅游品牌的应用，比如美国航空公司和喜达屋集团，尽管这不算太让人兴奋，因为智能手机和平板电脑上也有类似应用。确实有一些变化：比如说，喜达屋的应用让你只要在门前挥舞手表，就能在全球各处的W酒店打开自己的房间。不过用手表开酒店房间从来不曾出现在我的愿望清单上。

And of course some travelers will like that the Apple Watch has Apple Pay, a new mobile system that allows you to pay at the registers of places as varied as McDonald’s and Walt Disney World. Until the system is ubiquitous, I’ll be carrying my wallet. I’ll also be carrying my iPhone because, well, you must in order to use all the features of the Apple Watch — and that’s a real drawback for travelers who aim to carry fewer, not more, devices.

当然，有些旅行者希望看到苹果手表装备Apple Pay，这是一种新的移动支付系统，允许你在它登记的地方消费，从麦当劳到迪斯尼乐园都可以。不过在这个系统广泛普及之前，我还是得带着钱包。我也会带上iPhone手机，因为想要使用苹果手表的全部特色功能，就必须带上它——对于希望身边带的东西越少越好的旅行者来说，这是一种倒退。

So far wearables haven’t exactly taken off. And, for what they cost, they’re not always practical for the average traveler. Google Glass is $1,500, while the Apple Watch starts at $349 and you have to have an iPhone 5 or higher for it to work. Ditto for the Samsung Gear smartwatch, which is about $300 and requires that you own a Samsung phone or tablet.

迄今为止，可穿戴设备还未真正高速发展。从成本角度考虑，它们对于普通旅行者来说并不一定实用。谷歌眼镜售价1500美元，苹果手表起价349美元，但是要和iPhone 5及以上版本配合使用。三星Gear智能手表也是这样，它售价大约在300美元，但要求和三星手机或平板电脑配合使用。

Still, some analysts, including Mr. McQuivey, think Apple has the best shot at delivering on the promise of such technology in part because the company is well positioned to go beyond the smartwatch. It could eventually roll out a full-body network of devices; a system that allows travelers to access the same information in a variety of ways — for example, in an ear, not unlike the way the artificially intelligent Samantha talks to Theodore through his ear bud in the movie “Her.” Indeed, Mr. McQuivey thinks Motorola’s new Hint earpiece, which has the same abilities as its Moto 360 smartwatch but relies on the user’s voice, is a “defensive move” against the sort of system Apple might offer one day.

尽管如此，包括麦克奎维在内的若干分析师们认为，苹果公司在呈现这种技术方面做得最好，部分是由于苹果公司处在有利的位置，可以超越智能手表的范畴。它可以最终建立起全套的智能系统装备网络；让旅行者以各种方式获取同样的信息——比如说用耳朵听，有点像电影《她》里面的人工智能“萨曼莎”(Samantha)通过耳塞对西奥多(Theodore)说话那样。事实上，麦克奎维觉得摩托罗拉新推出的Hint听筒（它和该公司的Moto 360智能手表有同样的功能，但要依赖使用者的声音）正是摩托罗拉的“防御策略”，以备苹果未来有可能推出类似的系统。

“Nearly four in 10 travelers can see a benefit of using wearables when they are traveling,” said Henry H. Harteveldt, a travel industry analyst with Atmosphere Research Group. To attract more of them, the devices should be easy to use: The typical American traveler is about 41 years old, not 21, according to Mr. Harteveldt. And if the wearable is a smartwatch, he said, it should look inconspicuous, if not beautiful. “It would have to be something that doesn’t make me look like an extra on the set of an alien movie,” he said.

“10个游客中有将近四个可以在旅行中发现使用可穿戴设备的好处，”大气研究集团(Atmosphere Research Group)的分析师亨利·H·哈特韦尔兹(Henry H. Harteveldt)说。为了吸引更多旅行者，这种设备应当简单易用，据哈特韦尔兹说，典型的美国旅行者大约是41岁左右，而不是21岁。如果可穿戴设备是一块智能手表，他说，它的外观如果不漂亮，那就应该是毫不起眼的。“它不能让我看上去像是外星人电影里的龙套，”他说。

Apple, unlike many competitors, tackled that concern, offering an array of watch faces and bands, including leather and stainless steel mesh. “It’s as much about personal technology as it is about style and taste,” Timothy D. Cook, Apple’s chief executive, told the crowd at the news conference. Though for those of us with fashionable watches that merely tell time, the Apple Watch presents a problem. There’s only so much wrist real estate.

苹果公司和其他竞争对手一样要解决这种顾虑，为此它设计了一系列表盘和表带，包括皮革和网状不锈钢表带。“它应当是个性科技，也应当和时尚与品位有关，”苹果公司首席执行官蒂莫西·D·库克(Timothy D. Cook)在新闻发布会上对观众们说。尽管对于我们来说，时尚腕表只是用来看时间的，但苹果手表还是指出了一个问题。手腕上只有这么大的地方。

No matter what they look like, analysts think it will be years before wearables replace smartphones and tablets, if ever. “These will be supplemental devices for the consumer,” Mr. Harteveldt said.

不管它们看上去什么样，分析师们都认为可穿戴设备取代智能手机和平板电脑还需要好多年，如果这种取代真能实现的话。“还会为消费者提供其他追加设备，” 哈特韦尔兹说。

In the race to the bionic future, it’s easy to forget that some of the best innovations transforming the way we travel today are not wearables.

一些最佳创新曾经改变我们如今的旅行方式，而它们并不是可穿戴设备，但在未来的仿生学竞赛里，这一点很容易被忘记。

For instance Global Entry, the program that expedites the United States customs process for citizens, is a game-changer, as is T.S.A. Precheck, which speeds its members through airport security. Add to the list the car services Uber and Lyft, and touchless toilets, sinks and waste bins on the 787 Dreamliner planes.

比如说Global Entry，这个程序加速了美国人通过海关的速度，是颠覆性的大事，还有运输安全管理局提前检查系统(T.S.A. Precheck)，它加快了其成员通过机场安检的速度。此外还有Uber和Lyft提供的叫车服务，787梦幻客机上的感应式马桶、水槽和垃圾桶。

And let’s not forget the obvious wearable: clothing. Ralph Lauren’s new Polo Tech smart shirts gathered information about the heart rate and stress levels of United States Open ball boys. It’s often the less flashy improvements, though, that make travel a little easier. Patagonia makes quick-dry clothes with built-in sunscreen. And Scottevest designs travel clothes with pockets that let you wear everything you would typically stuff into a carry-on bag, from your glasses to your iPad.

别忘了那些更明显的可穿戴物品：衣服。比如拉夫·劳伦的新款Polo Tech智能上衣在美国网球公开赛上收集球童的心率与压力水平信息。不过，通常是那些不怎么花哨的改良让旅游变得更轻松。巴塔哥尼亚(Patagonia)品牌设计出内置防晒功能的快干衣物，Scottevest品牌设计的旅行服装有各种口袋，从眼镜到iPad，平时放在手提包里的东西都可以塞进这些口袋里。

Only time will tell if wearables become our second skins. “This is not going to be an overnight story,” Mr. Harteveldt said.

可穿戴设备是否会变成我们的第二层皮肤？只有时间能够检验。“这不会在一夜之间发生，” 哈特韦尔兹说。

That’s what makes it exciting. And maybe a little scary. As Jonathan Ive, Apple’s senior vice president of design, put it in a video during the news conference: “We’re now at a compelling beginning.”

这一点令人感到兴奋，但或许也有点吓人。正如苹果公司主管设计的高级副总裁乔纳森·伊夫(Jonathan Ive)在新闻发布会播放的一段录像中所说：“我们正站在激动人心的起点上。”