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Siri in-car voice control – what is it

09 Apr 2013 at 16:31

It’s a fact that cars are becoming more connected. Manufacturers are trying to make driving and living with your car an easier proposition by integrating your vehicle with your smartphone. But is it a good thing?

Modern smartphones can be hooked up to car infotainment systems, allowing satellite navigation functionality, streaming of music and, in many vehicles, online location services to help users find restaurants or parking spaces, for example.

Using your touchscreen phone in many vehicles’ in-car systems can do all this, with these features relatively commonplace in today’s automotive market.

However, the next generation of technology is on its way: voice control for your car.

Some vehicle manufacturers are now offering users the ability to carry out a number of functions using voice control software from their Apple iPhone smartphones.

Dubbed Siri (the name of Apple’s software) in-car, functions include calling up songs from their music library and playing them on the vehicle’s stereo using nothing but voice control.

Some of the things drivers will also be able to do inclde:

• Make voice activated, hands free calls to contacts in their phonebook
• Listen to and compose emails and text message
• Access their phone’s calendar function to check, add or delete appointments

Not only is this a great feature coming to many small cars and superminis where this level of technology was once previously reserved for high-end luxury saloons, it’s also safer and cheaper, too.

Full voice control for these gadgets removes any need to touch a handset. Some voice-controlled features today still require the push of a button or often a glance at a screen to check your progress.

According to the Institute of Advanced Motorists, in doing so reaction times are slowed by around 38%. This new fully voice activated function allows drivers to fix their gaze on the road in what some vehicle manufacturers are calling an “eyes free” mode.

There is still the issue that although your eyes are focused on the road and your hands firmly placed on the wheel, some drivers may not be in full control of the vehicle – due to their mind concentrating on a conversation or composing a text message, rather than what’s ahead of them.

For example, the IAM claims that a hands-free mobile phone conversation reduces reaction time by 27%.

So while development of this sort of technology might be making the most of an issue that is here to stay and for not much money, there’s a fundamental matter yet to be overcome that could still jeopardise you and your passengers safety when on the road and using these functions.

Even so, it’s a welcome new technology that, combined with its affordability, should help make our roads safer as well as our cars more of an extension to our tech-packed lives.