If you are thinking that a car that comes with speech recognition technology would be the answer to all your problems, then think again.
The truth is, voice recognition in cars wouldn’t solve your problems; at least not yet. For a few reasons, it’s not yet possible to get this technology just right in cars all the time. Just as with voice recognition software, there are speech recognition problems in cars too.
Voice recognition technology has improved remarkably since the 1950’s. It has reached a point where you can actually talk to your mobile phone. Such as asking for directions to your favorite burger joint, searching for music, or just teaching it to pronounce your name correctly. But where smartphones have seen a widespread incorporation of voice recognition technology, vehicles with automotive speech recognition systems on the other hand, don’t seem to be so fortunate, at least not yet.
Although vehicle manufacturers have implemented voice recognition software, the technology is far from perfect. It will be some time before we get to ride in a self-driven car and commanding it to take us wherever we want to go. Learn about some potential problems with voice recognition technology in cars below.
Mobile Phones vs. Cars
Now there’s a vast difference between cars and mobile phones and we don’t want to go into that. Talking about mobile phones, how many times have you changed your handset in the last year? Most would answer at least one. This is because mobile phone technology is constantly evolving and there are fewer parameters to take care of when implementing voice recognition in them.
On the flipside, it takes years for automobile designs to evolve; furthermore, the presence of many different parameters and complexities make it quite difficult to incorporate voice recognition systems in cars.
Road Noise
When you are driving a car, there are multiple sources of noise like fan noise, outdoor noise, noise from bumpy roads, etc. A car equipped with speech recognition software will not be 100 percent accurate in canceling out background noise as the processor involved is still not effective enough in its filtering algorithm. Nevertheless, automobile engineers are working around the clock to improve it.
Speech Recognition Software
Of course, we cannot blame cars entirely. Automotive voice recognition software is still far from perfect and many still cannot differentiate between regional accents and intonations. However, software developers are giving it their best shot to overcome these problems once and for all.
Never Perfect
Regardless of what car manufacturers claim about their voice recognition systems being able to accomplish this and that, you should always do your own research. If you are buying a vehicle with a voice recognition system, take out for a spin and decide how much you want to depend on the technology. Rest assured, it won’t do half of what the dealership tells you.
Major Hurdles
Currently, the biggest two obstacles faced by automobiles with voice recognition systems are dual voice and poor software. Think about it: what if one of your passengers is conversing and the car accidentally reacts to a command spoken unintentionally by one of them? That would yield undesirable results. Secondly, how will the voice command technology in cars distinguish between the driver’s voice and the passenger’s?
Perfecting Car Speech Recognition
These are just some of the major problems with voice recognition technology in cars. Another major setback is poor software which is the cause for the delay in processing the instructions. But with the advancements in microprocessor technology and the development of microphones which are more sensitive, voice recognition technology will definitely improve in the coming years. It will also be a major player in technology to stop distracted driving.