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Dashboard Avatar To Replace Car Owner's Manuals
cylonlover writes "At one time not all that long ago, cars had a warning light on the dashboard that simply said 'ENGINE.' That's pretty vague. Really, it might just as well have said 'CAR.' Some newer automobiles now have codes that appear on the console, which the driver must then look up in an index in the vehicle's owner's manual. Working with Audi, Germany's Technische Universitaet Muenchen (TUM) Institute of Business Informatics is now working on taking things a step farther, with the development of an on-screen avatar that will talk to drivers, and even understand their spoken questions."
Or in other words “our cars require maintenance and/or break down so frequently that we have spent a nautical ass-tonne of money developing a automotive equivalent of clippy for you!”?
The number readout is logical .. a major step up from the simple “service engine soon” light. The car already knows exactly what sensor caused the error.. and relating that to the user in something that can be looked up seems sane (although I always figured they specifically didn’t so they could charge you $50 to tell you your oil cap was loose).
A step up from that might be nice... maybe a lcd text readout with a line or two. Just enough info to know what you are dealing with.
The solution discussed in the article however sounds ridiculous. I did of course get a chuckle picturing some lady frustrated screaming “BURNT OUT HEADLIGHT FOR THE TENTH DAMN TIME” at the thing only to hear “the first step in changing the oil of your automobile ”. Crummy voice recognition combined with the frustration that comes with your car breaking down at the exact worst time is gonna make for some interesting breakdowns.
This all has a very “house of the future” feel to it.
Clippy gives me a wizard on how to start a car.
It looks like you're trying to drive over the speed-limit. Would you like to...
- Slow down?
- Alert local authorities?
- Opt for additional insurance coverage?
- Locate a runaway truck ramp?
"It looks like you are getting `highway head`.
Do you want me to start cruise control and the in-dash webcam?
You can say `Yes`, `No`, `Cruise`, or `Cam`."
"Flyin' in just a sweet place,
Never been known to fail..."
Sounds like the EDsel-209
Good-bye