July 14, 2025 Breaking News, Latest News, and Videos

Women Of Ford Talk About Voice Activation Technology At Santa Monica Breakfast:

Ford, along with its technology partner Nuance, have upgraded its voice recognition systems with the addition of their new Chester Mod 4 Touch Bot that advances and updates its 2011 technology found inside of their new Focus, Escape, and Fiesta 2012 models.

Its upgraded voice recognition system seems to have been cleaned up of all the bugs.

As part of Ford’s Women Technology Month, a trio of women representing Ford spoke with The Mirror on Tuesday, following a Women Engineers breakfast at the Georgian Hotel in Santa Monica.

The three women were Technical Specialist Allison Stephens, Virtual Reality Interior Designer Elizabeth Baron, and Voice Recognition Engineer Laura Burek.

Together, they shared their story of Ford’s voice recognition history and what to expect by the end of the year with the upcoming 2013 My Ford and My Lincoln Touch systems.

“We are moving towards the mobile application feature within the My Ford Touch,” said Burek. “It’s the next phase of the system.”

Currently, there are roughly 10,000 voice commands that are compatible and found within Ford’s select 2011-2012 models of the Focus, Escape, and Fiesta and upgrades to the initial 2011 system have been completed.

“This is our performance upgrade that will fix all the bugs,” said Burek. “Once you say find an address to the system, it comes back and asks you to say the street address including the city all at once.”

The pre-programmed system uses a simple C+ coding application that enables owners of these cars to have a talking dialogue with the system instead of one word or single sentence commands.

“We can control our radio stations, Sirius systems, or find a POI (Point of Interest),” said Burek. “You don’t have to piecemeal it, you can say it all at once and it works flawlessly. You can route to a destination by using your voice to say the street address as it sounds.”

For those concerned with rising gas prices and going green, Burek pointed toward the future of the voice recognition systems that will soon be found inside of their automobiles by 2013 saying that Ford will soon have “a battery electric vehicle that is going to be coming out before the end of the year.”

The current voice recognition upgrade in their electric cars with the Chester Mod 4 Touch Bot means that Ford will be able to “support voice recognition as it works in an electric vehicle just as it is in a gas vehicle,” and that “less structured commands,” will offer owners a more “natural way to talk to the system.”

“Our first generation sync that’s on our Focus, Escape, and Fiesta already supports the mobile applications,” said Burek. “It is a feature that is much quicker to do by your voice and is able to do while you are driving.”

The addition of internet applications such as Pandora, I Heart Radio, and I-Tunes directly streaming from a cell phone means that soon Ford owners will be “able to say the command ‘play album greatest hits’ by (specific artists such as) U2.”

Ford cars “will definitely take the use of the application from the phone and tie it into the stream,” said Burek. “It will either be a connection through the USB port or Blue Tooth and you won’t have to take your eyes off the road or hands off the wheel to do things.”

Currently the select cars have Unsupervised Speaker Adaptation technology built into their systems.

“It listens to your voice and tunes the recognizer to your specific accent,” said Burek. “The minute it hears something different, it clears out the system and adapts to the new user. Right now, it takes about three or four commands to do that.”

Ford is also driving the future of its company banking on voice recognition technology not only to augment the drivers of their cars, but their assembly workers as well.

Baron is the woman who makes sure everything in Ford’s cars will be perfect by interacting with the design before it gets put onto the assembly line.

Strong consideration of user interface is taken by Ford by adapting their workplace to include Virtual Reality in the design of the interior control panels of their cars.

Stephens also does her part once the cars go to the assembly line.

“We focus on extremes when we do our designs,” said Stephens. “I use the motion capture immersion to set up an assembly plant.”

Stephens takes into account everything from the “biggest guy’s hands,” to the “smallest woman’s hands” when setting up her “productive, safe, and efficient assembly line” that takes into consideration the “joint torque fatigue” of the muscles of its workers.

With all this new technology literally at Ford’s virtual fingertips, it is no wonder why the women of Ford expect their product to dominate the American car market in 2012 and are playing a vital role in Ford’s future.

“It’s not Kit from Knight Rider yet,” said Burek. “But we’re getting there.”

in News
<>Related Posts

Veterans Tech Group to Launch Los Angeles Chapter with Networking Event

July 14, 2025

July 14, 2025

Founded in San Francisco, VetsInTech operates 20 chapters nationwide and claims more than 60,000 veterans VetsInTech, a national nonprofit that...

Film Review: Jurassic World: Rebirth

July 13, 2025

July 13, 2025

“The story is simplistic and predictive, and that’s all it needs to be, because the age-old battle to survive the...

Santa Monica Assault Suspect Faces Multiple Charges, Authorities Seek Additional Victims

July 13, 2025

July 13, 2025

Marbra allegedly assaulted a 52-year-old woman on the Strand in Santa Monica, facing a felony count of assault with intent...

SM.a.r.t.Column: Does the Rand Corporation have a future in Santa Monica?

July 13, 2025

July 13, 2025

“Although no one said it outright, it is clear to all that RAND is feeling—and will continue to feel—the impact...

County Health Leaders Decry Federal Policy Barring Undocumented from Programs

July 12, 2025

July 12, 2025

The officials argued the policy jeopardizes care for all residents, noting it could deter people—regardless of status—from seeking treatment  Leaders...

County Supervisors Move to Preserve Measure J Amid Charter Error

July 12, 2025

July 12, 2025

Measure J mandates that at least 10% of the county’s locally generated, unrestricted funds be allocated to community investments like...

LA Medical Center Seeks Help Identifying Unconscious Patient

July 12, 2025

July 12, 2025

He has been unconscious since admission, and staff have been unable to determine his identity Los Angeles General Medical Center,...

Mayor Bass Issues Directive to Protect Immigrant Communities

July 12, 2025

July 12, 2025

The order expands access to city resources for affected families and requests records from ICE, including details on arrests Mayor...

Downtown Santa Monica CEO Andrew Thomas to Step Down

July 11, 2025

July 11, 2025

Thomas, who rejoined DTSM, Inc. in 2022, oversaw the introduction of a private security program, expanded homeless outreach, and boosted...

Conservancy to Tour Historic Miles Playhouse at State of the City Event

July 11, 2025

July 11, 2025

Built in 1929, the Miles Playhouse serves as the centerpiece of Lincoln Park The Santa Monica Conservancy will offer 15-minute...

Sen. Ben Allen Highlights Challenges, Economic Gains for LA28 Olympics

July 11, 2025

July 11, 2025

The remarks came during the first informational hearing of the Senate’s Special Committee on International Sporting Events State Sen. Ben...

(Video) Summer Camp at School of Rock West LA Turns Kids Into Rockstars

July 11, 2025

July 11, 2025

To Sign Up Now, Go To Schoolofrock.com Summer Camp at School of Rock West LA Turns Kids Into Rockstars To...

L.A. Louver Marks David Hockney’s 88th with Exhibit

July 11, 2025

July 11, 2025

Hockney, a British artist born in 1937, gained fame with the British Pop Art movement and later became known for...

Suspect Arrested in Shoe Retail Theft Spree Across LA County

July 11, 2025

July 11, 2025

During the search, police recovered two firearms and a significant quantity of merchandise The Los Angeles Police Department’s Organized Retail...

Suspect Arrested in Santa Monica Pier Arson Incidents

July 10, 2025

July 10, 2025

The suspect, matching video footage from an arcade, was taken into custody Santa Monica Police Department officers arrested a suspect...