Volvo and Microsoft team up to let you talk to your car
By Bill McLauchlan
If you’re old enough to remember the popular Knight Rider TV show from three decades ago in which David ‘The Hoff’ Hasselhoff told his car, KITT, what to do, then the latest wearable device from Volvo and Microsoft should be right up your alley.
Even if you're from the era when comic strip cop Dick Tracy used a wrist radio you'll still make the connection.
That's because Volvo owners will soon be able to talk to their car via their Microsoft Band 2 wrist communicator and give it operating commands, just like ‘The Hoff’. Via this latest electronic technology they’ll be able to instruct the car to perform tasks such as setting the navigation system, locking the doors, flashing the lights, sounding the horn or starting the heater/air con system. It’s all done with Volvo’s mobile app, Volvo on Call, and the connected wearable unit from Microsoft.
Sounds like just the thing for car owners who can’t recall where they’ve parked in a crowded lot full of look-alike cars or whose physical limitations make it awkward to access the car to pre-heat or –cool the interior for maximum comfort.
“Volvo is intent on making the car experience as easy and convenient as possible by utilizing the latest technology in the most relevant and inspiring ways. With voice control, we are only just beginning to scratch the surface of what is possible with digital assistant functionalities,” said Thomas Müller, Vice President, Electrics/Electronics and E-Propulsion at the Swedish automaker.
While the advanced heating/cooling voice command possible via the Band 2 communicator will probably prove most appealing to winter weary Canadian Volvo owners, the Microsoft-based system’s navigation set command is a useful application too, especially for older drivers nervous about driving in unfamiliar areas or congested traffic conditions.Right now the nav assist allows only a single address input at a time but Klas Bendrik, Volvo’s Chief Information Officer, told reporters at this year’s CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas, that the carmaker is working on an upgrade that will allow an owner to program a full day’s travel or meeting schedule with one command. No word yet on when that will happen or if and when the technology will integrate with Apple- or Google-based wearables.
Even so, in its present form, it appears to be catching on quickly. According to Bendrik, as of a couple of days ago, 166,00 Volvo owners remotely heated or cooled their cars before start-up. Pretty remarkable when you consider only some 400,000 Volvos globally are currently equipped with its On Call option. Yet this smart-phone accessed system, utilizing small gasoline-fed heaters in top-level Volvos, was accessed by close to half of those 400,000 cars in a single day.
No wonder Volvo is excited about its On Call/Band 2 mating. “When innovating, we are not interested in technology for the sake of technology. If a technology does not make a customer’s life easier, better, safer or more fun, we don’t use it. Let’s face it – who hasn’t dreamed of talking to their car via a wrist-worn wearable?” Bendrik proclaimed.
The new possibility to connect a Volvo with voice control with Band 2 will be available for customers in Volvo On Call markets this coming Spring. As well as Canada and the U.S., On Call is available in some 16 European countries as well as Brazil, China and Russia.
