《时代》周刊评出2014年度最佳发明

19. The AC that Lowers Your Energy Bills

帮你节省电费的空调

The Aros air conditioner, which is developed by Quirky, the GE-backed site that turns people’s concepts into creations. It’s smart. Thanks to a companion mobile app, Aros can track owners’ movements via GPS and turn itself on and off depending on their proximity to home. It also tells people exactly how much money they’re spending to cool their residences. That’s how Quirky knows it’s working: so far, the company says, Aros owners who use the “smart away” feature that turns the unit on and off automatically have trimmed their energy use by nearly 10%.

Aros空调是由通用电气公司自助的创意网站Quirky研发的。它是智能化的。利用一款配套的手机应用，Aros空调可以通过GPS跟踪主人行踪，并根据他们离家的远近自动开关机。它还能告诉用户他们正在花多少钱来给屋子降温。Quirky网站称，使用自动开关机功能的Aros空调为用户节省了近10%的电费。

20. The Prison Room that Helps Inmates Relax

有助于囚犯放松情绪的监狱活动室

For 23 hours a day, the 200 inmates in solitary confinement at Oregon’s largest prison see nothing but a tiny, white-walled cell—an experience some research suggests can heighten mental illness and make prisoners prone to suicide attempts and violence. Last year, officials began letting some of them spend their free hour in a first-of-its-kind “blue room,” an exercise space where a projector plays video of open deserts, streaming waterfalls and other outdoor scenes. That imagery, says creator Nalini Nadkarni, who studies how nature affects behavior, is designed to calm prisoners.

每天有23个小时，美国俄勒冈州最大监狱里被单独关押的200名囚犯除了白色的牢房墙壁什么也看不到。有研究称这种体验会提高精神疾病发病率，使囚犯容易具有自杀和暴力倾向。去年，监狱官员们开始让一些囚犯在独创的“蓝屋”里度过1小时放风时间，这是一个内有放映机播放空旷的沙漠、奔流的瀑布和其他室外景色视频的活动室。这个屋子的设计者纳利尼•纳德卡尔尼的专业是研究自然界如何影响人类行为，而这个屋子也意在使囚犯平静下来。