Nuance Announces Siri-like Functionality for Cars with Dragon Drive

[Akshay Masand]

If you are one of the many that find Siri to be useful and enjoyable to use, then you will probably be happy to hear that the one of the companies behind Siri, Nuance, has announced a similar type of functionality that should be coming to cars soon. The new service named Dragon Drive, replicates the power of Siri so that drivers can initiate a conversation to perform tasks in the car instead of having to use their hands. It may seem redundant to some but for those of you who don't own an iPhone or don't want to risk using it while driving, this may be the perfect solution.

The service, which is expected sometime this summer, allows drivers to send text messages, check traffic information, play music, or get directions by just asking instead of having to navigate a slew of menus. As of right now, the idea is to have a button on the steering wheel that activates the voice recognition so that other discussions in the car don’t set off a search. Dragon Drive uses onboard software to do part of their voice recognition rather than relying solely on remote servers (which is what Siri does). Similar to Siri though, Dragon Drive learns a user’s voice patterns and other noises such as windshield wipers and rain than filters them out. The technology is expected to be available for any smartphone user and in cars equipped with cellular radio and SIM cards in the near future.

As of right now, Nuance technology is already used in infotainment systems found in cars by BMW, Daimler, Ford, and GM. It is still unclear how many of the car manufacturers will opt to use Dragon Drive though. Regardless, such a technology would probably be found useful among many drivers on the road today and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see it becoming more popular as time goes on and the technology is implemented in more and more cars.

Source: MacWorld

[buttamix]

wow now that is pretty freakin sweet.

[GellBrake'rrrr]

wow now that is pretty freakin sweet.

I agree 1,000%!!!

[DarkXShadowX21]

The second this comes out. I'm getting it installed in my car and of course on my iPhone. Just the name of the company has got me all excited

[Zon]

Apple should pay cash and buy this company.