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Finally, a Car That Talks Back

Wired and SiliconValley.com posted a story about advanced voice-navigation in new Honda cars courtesy of IBM’s Embedded ViaVoice software.

You like this place? My car recommended it: Add to the list of luxury car options one more: advanced voice-navigation. Later this month Honda, with the help of IBM, will roll out new cars that respond to driver queries and commands with a natural-sounding text-to-speech voice. Powered by IBM’s Embedded ViaVoice software, these cars will allow their drivers to crank the volume on the CD player or adjust the air conditioning without ever taking their hands from the wheel. More importantly, the cars will offer turn-by-turn voice guidance to their destinations. Honda’s system recognizes cities and addresses in the continental United States, as well as restaurant names listed by Zagat Survey. Said Alisdair Rennie, a vice president in IBM’s Pervasive Computing division: “You can say, ‘Take me to a three-star Chinese restaurant,’ and the car knows where you are.”


Wired and SiliconValley.com posted a story about advanced voice-navigation in new Honda cars courtesy of IBM’s Embedded ViaVoice software.

You like this place? My car recommended it: Add to the list of luxury car options one more: advanced voice-navigation. Later this month Honda, with the help of IBM, will roll out new cars that respond to driver queries and commands with a natural-sounding text-to-speech voice. Powered by IBM’s Embedded ViaVoice software, these cars will allow their drivers to crank the volume on the CD player or adjust the air conditioning without ever taking their hands from the wheel. More importantly, the cars will offer turn-by-turn voice guidance to their destinations. Honda’s system recognizes cities and addresses in the continental United States, as well as restaurant names listed by Zagat Survey. Said Alisdair Rennie, a vice president in IBM’s Pervasive Computing division: “You can say, ‘Take me to a three-star Chinese restaurant,’ and the car knows where you are.”

By Jason O'Grady

Founded the PowerPage in 1995.