I have an intermittent connection when it comes to computing devices and voice commands. I’m old enough to remember buying in to the promise of text to speech, but I’m wise enough w to admit that I jumped on that bandwagon when the technology was too young.
I only use voice commands in my car via my mobile phone now. And once again I’m a believer but I see current technologies as pioneers in uncharted territories.
The best example of this is my use of voice commands to initiate a hands free phone call in my car. My experience hasn’t been very satisfying and about half the time I try to dial a number using voice commands or get routine driving information the first results haven’t come close to what I expected
I’ve struggled with the reliability of voice commands on my cell phones paired to my car’s bluetooth network for the last four years and at no time in this period have I been remotely satisfied with the technology.
I can be pretty methodical when it comes to technology, so I haven’t given up and I’ve tried to solve my personal voice command conundrum by replacing phones without luck.
The two-fold problem with voice commands is simple: microphones used by car manufacturers and cell phone manufacturers simply aren’t up to snuff they lack the directional sensitivity and gain that’s needed to make sure the command is understood by a cellphone.; and, voice command is a processor intensive application
But there is great voice technology on the market today and you only need to look no farther than Apples second generation SIRI, Amazon’s Echo and forth coming voice command electronic Assistants from Google, Apple and Microsoft to see or experience how transformational the technology can be.
Because of this, I think voice commands may be a long time coming but it’s on the horizon and companies like Google, QualComm, and Apple, plus auto industry heavyweights like members of the Connected Car consortium (which includes Ford) will blaze the path to the promised land of Voice commands.
Voice commands aren’t mainstream yet,but they are a factor in my selection of a new car, Bluetooth audio components and even my next car.Can you hear me—Jim Forbes on 3 May 2016.