Video calls are a common occurrence but have you imagined being able to touch the person on the other end of the line? Scientists are making this a reality.

Researchers at the University of New South Wales, Australia, have invented a soft skin stretch device(SSD), haptic(触觉的) device that can recreate the sense of touch. Haptic technology can copy the experience of touch by stimulating(刺激) the skin through force, vibration(震动) or motion.

Vibration is the most common haptic technology today and has been built into many electronic devices, such as one attached to the back of trackpad (触控板) in laptops. However haptic feedback with vibration becomes less sensitive when the trackpad is used continuously. The existing technology also has great difficulty recreating the sense of touch with objects in virtual environments or located remotely.

The new technology overcomes issues with existing haptic devices. The research team introduced a novel method to recreate the sense of touch through soft, artificial “muscles”.

It works like this:imagine you call a friend in Australia. You wear a haptic glove with the SSDs and your friend also wears a glove with 3D force sensors. If your friend picks up an object, it will physically press against your friend's fingers. And the glove with 3D force sensors will measure these interactions. The force signals can be sent to your glove so your device will generate the same 3D forces, making you experience the same sense of touch as your friend.

The haptic devices could be used in various fields, allowing users to feel objects inside a virtual world or at a distance. This could be especially beneficial during such times like the COVID-19 pandemic when people rely on video calls to stay connected with loved ones. Or it could be used in medical practices. Doctors could feel a patient's organ tissues without touching them.

【小题1】According to the text, SSD can          .

A．improve skin health	B．recall earlier experiences
C．recreate the sense of touch	D．be used as the trackpad in laptops

【小题2】Paragraph 5 is mainly about          .

A．how SSD works	B．what advantages SSD has
C．how vibration can be used	D．what problems the current technology has

【小题3】In which situation can we use SSD according to the text?

A．Tasting a dish on the video call.

B．Enjoying classical music at home.

C．Admiring beautiful scenery online

D．Performing a distant medical operation.

【小题4】In which section of a newspaper can we find this text?

A．Science.	B．Entertainment.
C．Education.	D．Health