bin that says 'thank you' or 'mm, tasty' when you throw in rubbish — in Germany, a land that loves hi-tech gadgets, it was only a matter of time before the solar-powered, talking trash can came along.
Berlin city officials have tested a street bin for paper which, powered by solar energy, talks to its users.
Next year, some 20 of them will be installed at strategic locations around the capital.
Each can be individually programmed to speak in a different language, give off a throaty rumble or administer a short lesson on tidiness.
“It looks just like any other orange bin, except it's equipped with a solar panel on its lid and has a sound mechanism,” said Bernd Mueller of the city's refuse collection department.
The panel, which can work even in bad weather, powers the sound. At night, the bin is lit up by a neon light pointing the way to the opening, but there's no message so people aren't frightened by a noise in the dark, he added.
The prototype talking trash can was tested using a hidden camera to record people's reaction. “It really surprised them,” Mueller said.
“Some people repeated the experience a second time, many of them smiled. On the whole the reaction was very positive.”
在德國柏林街頭，人們將發(fā)現(xiàn)扔垃圾會是一種樂趣，因?yàn)楫?dāng)你把垃圾扔到垃圾桶里時(shí)，它會跟你說：“謝謝”、“嗯，味道好極了”之類的話。
柏林市的有關(guān)官員近日已經(jīng)在街上對這種太陽能垃圾桶進(jìn)行測試，預(yù)計(jì)明年，柏林就會裝上20個(gè)這種垃圾桶了。每一個(gè)智能垃圾桶都能說幾種語言。據(jù)當(dāng)?shù)毓賳T稱，到目前為止，還沒有人因?yàn)檫@個(gè)垃圾桶會說話而嚇著。在試驗(yàn)期間，工作人員還在垃圾桶后安裝了攝像頭，拍下途人的反應(yīng)，結(jié)果發(fā)現(xiàn)，人們確實(shí)嚇了一跳，不少人還多扔一次垃圾，微笑著聽它的說話。
Berlin city officials have tested a street bin for paper which, powered by solar energy, talks to its users.
Next year, some 20 of them will be installed at strategic locations around the capital.
Each can be individually programmed to speak in a different language, give off a throaty rumble or administer a short lesson on tidiness.
“It looks just like any other orange bin, except it's equipped with a solar panel on its lid and has a sound mechanism,” said Bernd Mueller of the city's refuse collection department.
The panel, which can work even in bad weather, powers the sound. At night, the bin is lit up by a neon light pointing the way to the opening, but there's no message so people aren't frightened by a noise in the dark, he added.
The prototype talking trash can was tested using a hidden camera to record people's reaction. “It really surprised them,” Mueller said.
“Some people repeated the experience a second time, many of them smiled. On the whole the reaction was very positive.”
在德國柏林街頭，人們將發(fā)現(xiàn)扔垃圾會是一種樂趣，因?yàn)楫?dāng)你把垃圾扔到垃圾桶里時(shí)，它會跟你說：“謝謝”、“嗯，味道好極了”之類的話。
柏林市的有關(guān)官員近日已經(jīng)在街上對這種太陽能垃圾桶進(jìn)行測試，預(yù)計(jì)明年，柏林就會裝上20個(gè)這種垃圾桶了。每一個(gè)智能垃圾桶都能說幾種語言。據(jù)當(dāng)?shù)毓賳T稱，到目前為止，還沒有人因?yàn)檫@個(gè)垃圾桶會說話而嚇著。在試驗(yàn)期間，工作人員還在垃圾桶后安裝了攝像頭，拍下途人的反應(yīng)，結(jié)果發(fā)現(xiàn)，人們確實(shí)嚇了一跳，不少人還多扔一次垃圾，微笑著聽它的說話。