Car Talk

Isn’t a part of our romance with the car due to the fact that it CAN’T talk back to us? Don’t we crave that mute responsiveness? That may soon be ruined:

IBM is working on developing a system that allows a driver hold a conversation with a car.

The system would have the ability to answer back, establishing a two-way communication between driver and vehicle.

The computer-generated voice might grate after a while, but at least the planned in-car assistant is entertaining, intelligent, and well connected.

By logging onto the internet, it could access everything from traffic updates to e-mails.

But there would be safeguards in place to ensure the system does not ramble on when you least want it to.

….”If, for example, you are driving too fast certain features may be disabled. E-mail dictation may be disabled if you’re driving, say, faster than 30 miles an hour.

“If you have to brake quickly, perhaps to avoid an accident, the system should be able to stop talking and resume when the situation returns to normal.”

….But it will be five to 10 years before such systems become a reality.

Many features are still being refined in labs. When they are ready, they hold out the promise of transforming those long, lonely journeys. [BBC]

I can see myself slamming on the brakes periodically just to shut the car up