English Learning Extended Reading: Those Black Technologies Behind the Winter Olympics - Smart Beds

At the Winter Olympic Village（奥运村）, the athletes are sleeping on "smart beds" equipped with sensors（传感器）. The devices collect information on things like breathing and heart rates. They also have controls to permit users to choose different sleeping positions, including one called "zero gravity（零重力）." That setting is supposed to reduce pressure on muscles and joints（关节） and support higher quality sleep.

These high-tech beds are very different from the lower-tech versions provided for Olympic athletes at last year's Tokyo Games. The beds used in Japan – which received wide attention（广泛关注） for being so unusual – were made of cardboard material for environmental reasons.

Members of the media in Beijing can try out （尝试）the same beds the athletes are using in special "sleep rest cabins." The cabins, or containers, permit reporters to enter and rest for up to an hour. The cabins are fully cleaned after each use.