We all have long-forgotten clothes gathering¹ dust at the back of the wardrobe.

我们的衣柜里总有一堆被遗忘的旧衣服在积灰。

But new technology could see the end of that, with the garments themselves giving owners a gentle reminder² of their existence.

但是新科技可以改变这种现象——衣服们能温柔地提醒主人它们的存在。

'Smart clothes' could help us clear out our drawers by sending messages or tweeting us if they haven't been worn in a while.

被长久搁置的“智能衣服”能给我们发短信或推特信息，提醒我们去清理衣柜。

If these alerts are ignored, the garments will get in touch with a clothing charity and ask to be recycled, with an organisation³ automatically sending out donation information. They could also be programmed to put themselves up for auction⁴ on eBay.

如果人们忽略了它们的信息，那“衣服们”将自行联系衣物慈善机构，要求被回收，慈善机构会自动给“衣服们”发送捐赠信息。“衣服们”也可能按照预设程序，被送到eBay上拍卖。

As a society, we own four times as many clothes as we did 20 years ago, but regularly only wear about 20 percent of them.

现代人的衣服数量是20年前的4倍，但是其中仅有20%的衣服是常穿的。

Academics at Birmingham City University are developing the 'connected wardrobe' to encourage more ethical⁵ clothes consumption.

伯明翰城市大学的学者们正在研发“智能衣柜”以鼓励更合理的时装消费。

The concept sees garments tagged using washable contactless technology, known as radio-frequency identification.

“智能衣柜”中的衣物上会被贴上可清洗无接触式标签，此种技术也被称为无线射频识别技术。

Mark Brill, senior lecturer at Birmingham City, said: 'Think of the surprise when an owner suddenly receives bids for items they didn't know were in their wardrobe.

伯明翰城市大学的高级讲师马克•布瑞尔表示：“当主人突然收到闲置衣服的拍卖通知时，想想看他们会有多惊讶吧。”

'The connected wardrobe is a practical, engaging concept to encourage people to think about their clothing consumption. Ultimately, I hope it will encourage more ethical fashion consumption.'

“‘智能衣柜’是一个很有吸引力的实用型产品，鼓励人们合理消费衣物。我希望它最终能引导人们建立正确的时尚消费观。

He added: 'Perhaps we can even move away from the idea of 'ownership' of clothing. When we've worn them enough, the items will pass themselves on to their next keeper to wear.'

他补充道：“或许我们可以消除衣物的‘个人所属’概念。当人们穿腻了这件衣服时，它将主动将自己传递到下一位主人手里。”

It follows in the footsteps of the 'Internet of Things' – a concept that sees ordinary household items connecting to the internet in order to share information.

这项创意紧跟“物联网”的潮流，“物联网”概念提出将家用物品连接到网络平台上，以共享信息。

From adjusting your alarm clock to monitoring the temperature of your home, the internet is changing the way we live.

从调整闹钟到监控室内温度，网络改变了我们生活的方方面面。

Now, the 'Internet of Clothes' will see that neglected garments will tweet and text the owners 'asking' to be worn depending on the weather and frequency of wear.

现在“衣联网”会根据天气状况和衣物的使用频率，让久被搁置的衣物主动发推特或短信给主人，“请求重见天日”。

Clothes will keep track of other information such as who owned it previously⁶, as well as how much it originally cost, who made it and how much the worker was paid for it.

智能衣服也会记录其他的信息，例如前任主人是谁、衣服的原始价格、生产者以及制作衣物的工人所得的报酬等等。

British shoppers buy 2.15 million tonnes of clothing and shoes annually⁷, yet UK citizens have an estimated ￡30 billion worth of unused clothing sitting in their wardrobes.

英国人每年购买215万吨衣服和鞋子，而据估计英国人有价值高达300亿英镑的衣物未被使用，在衣柜角落里积灰。