The revolutionary connectivity system that could comfort you if you need it

Ford is researching, together with the RWTH University of Aachen, the use of multiple microphones to improve speech processing.

Having voice control in a car is no longer surprising today, but from 2022 onwards they could even be “empathetic”. Voice recognition is expected to be available in almost every car by that date. Ford and RWTH Aachen University are researching a way to improve speech processing to enhance this service.

Voice control is a current technology that allows access to certain functions of our vehicle through simple voice commands. The SYNC 3 connectivity system from Ford can already be controlled by voice commands. We can search for a restaurant on the car’s GPS simply by saying “I’m hungry”. These kinds of aids are very useful because they make people’s lives easier, as they don’t have to get distracted to carry out a search while driving.

Experts assure that in the future cars could be able to know how we are feeling at every moment. The connectivity systems of the future would identify our facial features or slight changes, modulations or inflections in our voice using microphones and cameras. In this way our car could adapt the lighting to our mood, identify which songs we like to listen to if we are stressed or cheerful, or when we simply prefer silence, without our having to tell it anything. This is how the “empathetic car” is intended to be developed, that is, one that knows at every moment how we are and how to help us. The systems of the future will presumably become personal assistants able to change appointments in your calendar or order food delivery while we are stuck in traffic, thanks to the cloud. It is believed that voice recognition technology will be available in almost every car from 2022 onwards.

Ford is carrying out a research project together with RWTH Aachen University to improve voice processing in its vehicles’ systems. Another goal of this programme is to mitigate the effect of external noise to avoid possible interruptions in communication between human and car.

According to Nuance, the company that developed the SYNC 3 together with Ford, within about two years our car’s voice control systems could ask us things like… “You’re running out of your favourite chocolate and your preferred shop has it in stock. Would you like to stop by and buy it?”.

Ford will present its new connectivity advances next week at the World Mobile Congress in Barcelona.

Via Newspress