From: mash@mips.com (John Mashey)
Newsgroups: comp.arch,comp.ai
Subject: Re: Voice recognition in car
Date: 17 Apr 1992 03:48:38 GMT
Organization: MIPS Computer Systems, Inc.
NNTP-Posting-Host: winchester.mips.com

In article <1992Apr16.221110.22542@alliant.com> tj@alliant.com (Tom Jaskiewicz) writes:
>I would accept a smart-car that drove itself on the smart-roadway.
>Then I can use the proven keyboard/mouse/CRT technology.
>
>Unfortunately both of these good technologies (voice recognition and
>smart-cars) are many years away.

(I thought I already posted something on this?)

Within the last month, I saw a demo on TV of a car-electronics system
controlled by voce, using a a microphone attached to the roof, to the left
of the driver.  I think it was from Sanyo. 
It recognized:
	-unconnected speech
	-a moderate size vocabulary appropriate to controlling the radio
		and tape player
It was speaker-dependent, and unfortunately had memory only for one speaker,
hence had to be retrained for another driver.  This is either perfectly fine,
or a pan in the neck.  The TV show mentioned that they were working ot let it
handle more speakers, obviously needed for the family car.
This is a reasonable application as:
	a) The command set is reasonably limited.
	b) If something is misrecognized, it's hardly likely to cause a crash.
	c) It is *safer* than fiddling with controls...
(Don Norman's "The Psychology of Everyday Things" or the republished version
"The Design of Everyday Things" that I've mentioned before has great examples of
misfunctional human interfaces.  I *think* he mentioned the case of some
car that had a wonderful *touch-screen* interface for the various controls.
This was really high-tech: it had a menu system that showed on the screen,
and of course, changed as you traversed the menus.  This meant you *had*
to look at it, because you couldn't even use the tactile feedback of different
shaped or located buttons.... lasted one generation of car.  no more. :-))

There are also speech-recognizing ceullar car telephones.  I've been
in cars with them and seen/heard people use them.  This is a really dandy
application, as it not only has the characteristics a), b), and c) above,
but it also has the terrific benefit that:
	d) A phone with a list of fast-call numbers needs to be entered,
	and somehow some kind of dialing-code attached, and that dialing code
	recorded somewhere so you can recall it.  Many business phones end up
	with little lists of speed-dial numbers taped to them...
	Much better to enter a phone number once, then *say* your phone
	"Joe Blow"   and later say  *call Joe Blow*  .
	If you're worried about misrecognizing names, you might have the phone
	*repeat* the original name you gave it, and ask for confirmation.
	[After all, GUIs have made "confirmer boxes" familiar to people;
	there's no reason not to include them in voice systems.]
	Although I don't recall seeing it in a car, systems exist to
	do speaker-independent recognition of very constrained vocabularies,
	i.e., the digits ...
	e) With regard to phones in general, consider the weird sequences
	that one sometimes needs on regular 12-button phones to do things...
	Give me a phone that recognizes even a the digits and a few more
	command words...

So:
	a) Dictation isn't here. Probably not soon.

	b) People *are* building and selling products that
	recognize speaker-dependent,
	unconnected words from constrained vocabularies.

	c) Nobody should think b) isn't happening real fast just because
		a) isn't here...
-- 
-john mashey	DISCLAIMER: <generic disclaimer, I speak for me only, etc>
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