Everybody knows the stubborn driver who refuses to stop and ask for directions. Now, thanks to voice recognition technology, he doesn't have to be proud, or lost.
IBM said Monday that it will provide a voice recognition system for selected 2003 Honda Accords. The voice-enabled Hondas should be available at dealerships beginning Sept. 9.
The feature will help drivers find the nearest pizza place, ATM or gas station, as well as give directions on how to get from point A to point B.
"Navigation tends to be in the top two or three applications that drivers would like to have," said Raj Desai, director of telematics for IBM. "Often, getting directions on a timely basis is very convenient, especially if you're lost."
IBM's so-called "Touch by Voice" navigation system builds a DVD into the dash that stores data for the entire United States, including maps and points of interest.
The system also includes a 7-inch color touch screen integrated into the dash to display maps.
The system can recognize a variety of accents and about 150 English-language commands. Yet the driver does not have to memorize exact commands -- the finite grammar system recognizes variations in sentence structure.
"These are subtle but important things," Desai said.
Drivers press the "talk" button on the steering wheel to trigger the system. Once the driver gives a command like "find the nearest Italian restaurant," the system uses a global positioning system to identify where the car is and then directs the driver to the chosen destination.
Directions are broadcast through the car's speakers, canceling out other audio like CDs or radio.
Once only available to the likes of Batman, James Bond and David Hasselhoff (aka Michael Knight of Knight Rider), other car manufacturers are introducing telematics -- technologies that deliver information and services to the driver -- to more humble automobiles.
Certain Mercedes are equipped with software that can dial phone numbers for the driver and operate the radio, cassette and CD player by voice command. Some models also have navigation systems but they are not voice-activated yet, said Glenn Melton, general manager for R.A.B. Motors, a Mercedes-Benz dealership in San Rafael, California.
"Right now, (these technologies) are still a novelty, and I think people will have to get used to it. I think for people in their 40s to 60s, the baby boomers, your intuition is to reach out and turn a dial," Melton said. Once people get comfortable with the technology, "you minimize the amount of attention you have to pay to doing (those tasks) and can focus your attention on driving the car."
The same was true for hands-free cell phones. A few years ago, few people used them, but now, Melton said, "you go into Whole Foods and see people apparently talking to bananas."
Research is still being done on how these new gadgets affect a driver's concentration.
This fall, the National Advanced Driving Simulator at the University of Iowa will test the impact that cell phones, geographic systems and other in-vehicle technologies have on a driver's concentration, said Tim Hurd, a spokesman for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The NHTSA is also collecting ongoing information and research on driver distraction, which is available to the public on its website.
One car-safety group said more studies are needed to determine whether the distractions created by these systems outweigh the benefits.
"Overall, we're just concerned that these multimedia devices should not be used by people who are driving," said Lisa Sheikh, executive director of the Partnership for Safe Driving.
Sheikh said that drivers should use GPS devices while they are parked, just as one would when reading a map.
As for receiving voice-activated directions, she said "it's something that needs to be tested very thoroughly in a much more controlled setting (instead of the roads)."
