NEW YORK: Can't find a restaurant? Running out of gas? Down to your last
dollar? Tell it to the car. International Business Machines Corp. has said that
it signed a deal with Honda Motor Corp. that will make it easier for drivers to
find the closest gas station or restaurant by asking the car's computer for
help. IBM said Honda will offer in its 2003 Accord models, for sale in
September, a navigation system that is integrated with voice recognition
software and a small touch screen.
The voice recognition system works by touching a button on the steering wheel
and then speaking aloud. The software then responds, using the car's audio
system to give driving directions. The voice recognition software, based on
IBM's ViaVoice product, understands different speech accents and has a larger
vocabulary, according to IBM director of automotive and telematics solutions Raj
Desai.
"It's closer to the natural ability to have a dialogue, rather than just
remembering key words, which is what the previous generation systems had,"
Desai said. Companies including DaimlerChrysler AG have been building cars with
voice recognition and other wireless communications-based services for years but
it was still not clear if there is a market for the technology, called
telematics.
Ford Motor Corp., for instance, pulled the plug on its 18-month-old
telematics venture Wingcast in June. General Motors Corp. has the largest
telecommunications service system, called OnStar. IBM said price information on
the system was not available.
© Reuters