IBM is creating a `butler in the dashboard'

Kansas City Star ^ | 8/24/03 | Jim Fitzgerald

[Vermonter]

HAWTHORNE, N.Y. - A driver of the future -- the near future, IBM says -- will be able to dictate and send e-mails, get spoken directions to a restaurant, even play a game of "Name That Tune" with his onboard computer.

If the children in the back seat are being too noisy and the computer can't hear the driver well enough, it'll just read his lips.

And if he's getting drowsy, approaching a sharp curve or driving too fast in the rain, the car might cut off his interactive privileges so he can pay more attention to his driving.

"We're talking about a butler in the dashboard who would look after you, take care of your every need," said Mahesh Viswanathan, an IBM researcher.

Viswanathan was part of the company's recent presentation of various auto-related computer developments it is offering carmakers.

IBM spokeswoman Barbara Churchill predicted that some of the technology will show up in one company's cars -- she wouldn't say which equipment or which manufacturer -- within 18 months.

In a demonstration at a make-believe dashboard, Viswanathan greeted the computer ("Good morning, Sally"), told it he was catching a flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport, and received a map and spoken directions, estimated travel time, the state of the traffic ahead, the weather, the flight's status, country music on the radio, and directions to an Italian restaurant en route.

The computer interrupted its routine -- including the "Name That Tune" game -- to tell him the flight was delayed, a bridge was backed up and a colleague had sent a voice mail, which it then read.

IBM acknowledged that not all such information is actually available so quickly -- there's no real-time source for traffic conditions, for example -- but said it is coming.

Some of the technology is already available -- General Motors' OnStar, for example, can detect air bag deployment and lock onto a car's position for emergencies. But "you wouldn't want to call OnStar to lower the volume of your radio," said James Ruthven, IBM's program director for "telematics," which is what the industry calls such technology.

Microsoft Corp. last year launched its next-generation software for auto dashboards, which aims to let people get the most out of their cell phones and check e-mail while on the road. The software giant said eight auto manufacturers and their suppliers are already working on navigation, safety and entertainment systems that will mesh with the software.

Viswanathan said the idea is to have everything a driver needs made available "as if you were talking to another person in the car who can do all these things for you."

The computer would mesh "local" duties, like setting the air conditioning at 72 degrees when requested, with "network" research, like getting the latest quotes on your stock portfolio.

The key is speech recognition -- getting the computer to understand the driver's instructions without errors. Such technology has advanced greatly in recent years, and in quiet surroundings most humans can be understood almost perfectly by a computer.

[Vermonter]

I'd settle for where the cheapest gas is available right now.

[VoiceOfBruck]

I hope it doesn't run on Windows.

[boris]

"If the children in the back seat are being too noisy and the computer can't hear the driver well enough, it'll just read his lips."

"Open the pod bay doors, Hal."

--Boris

[NCjim]

Second that motion!

[4mycountry]

[4mycountry]

"Beam me up, Scotty."

[thulldud]

Thinking of this?

[ProudGOP]

and a colleague had sent a voice mail, which it then read.

Reading a voice mail? Perhaps they mean playing a voice mail, which isn't such a big deal.

[Lazamataz]

"We're talking about a butler in the dashboard who would look after you, take care of your every need,"

EVERY need?

Oh my. I'm blushing.

[boris]

I'm not sure--since nothing whatever is displayed.

--Boris

[ken5050]

a new bonanza for the trial lawyers.....it "distracts" the driver....thus causing accidents...

[Redcloak]

Will the "butler" be named Kitt?

[eggman]

It wasn't my fault, the butler did it.

[Servant of the Nine]

I don't want my car talking back.
I have a kid for that.

So9

[eggman]

I hope it doesn't run on Windows.

There could be some nasty virus that would take over the car like Christine.

[longtermmemmory]

emails? dictation? faxes?

Geeze what happened to the quiet drive home? We are going to squeeeeze every second into work time.

Next it will be SPAM in your car. You will be driving home, pick up the kids, and then chek your email to find out about herbal viagra.

[Only1choice____Freedom]

I can't drive the car right now, it's running the Windows update!

"It wasn't me officer, the butler did it!"

VoiceOfBruck - did you mean VoiceOfBuick?

[VoiceOfBruck]

VoiceOfBruck - did you mean VoiceOfBuick?

haha very good.

[thulldud]

It's the lip-reading scene from 2001.

( Centered in that oval window behind the astronauts you see a panel with one of HAL's fisheye lenses, watching their lip movements. The astronauts are planning to disconnect the computer and fly the rest of the mission manually, and, having learned this, the HAL plans in its turn to kill all the humans and complete the mission itself. )