Siri-Like Advanced Speech-Recognition Technology Coming To Cars In 2012

Hands-free voice activated technology has made life so much easier. Now, wouldn’t it be great if they could bring that same level of technology to your car? You’re in luck – it’s coming… but you’re going to have to wait another year for it.

Speech-recognition company Nuance has reported that an auto manufacturer is in the process of integrating advanced voice command technology into its vehicles and it will be ready by next year (there’s no word which automaker this is, but Mercedes-Benz is expected to launch an iPhone-based infotainment system next year). You’ll be able to tell your car that you want to want to make reservations for that trendy Asian fusion restaurant everyone has been talking about, and you car will make it happen.

If you’ve ever used Siri’s services or GM’s IntelliLink infotainment system, then you’ve already experienced Nuance’s speech recognition capabilities. Right now, most OEM systems only recognize 50 or 60 short voice commands (with the exception of Ford’s Sync system, which recognizes 10,000 voice commands). But it takes a lot more than 10,000 voice commands to be truly intuitive, and that’s were most of the work needs to take place. Think about how helpful Siri is – to get that same kind of response in your car, automakers have to put some serious research and development to bring drivers a similar experience.

And even though Nuance is on board, automakers still have to grapple with the increased probability that this type of system will still cause all kinds of distracted driving hazards. As well, this new system will need to offer directions and navigation without relying solely on mobile networks for data connections.

[Source: Cnet]