IMS demonstrated its cutting-edge Human-Machine Interface solution iLane, at a recent event. iLane is an in-car platform that uses a combination of voice recognition and text-to-speech to allow drivers to keep in touch with news, weather, vehicle health status, contacts and email with two hands safely gripping the steering wheel and eyes on the road.
IMS Director of Product Development and Planning, Dr. Ben Miners, showed off some iLane’s newest capabilities that bring you the connected car today, at the Telematics Detroit 2011 show. The in-car platform made quite a splash!
In this demonstration, Dr. Miners showed off many of the updates and upgrades that have been made to iLane since its debut several years ago.
iLane’s all about “information…made available in a seamless, natural environment for the driver to interact with, and for the driver to remain in form while on the road,” Miners said.
What kind of information are we talking about? Well, you name it and iLane’s got it. Dr. Miners showed off the device’s ability to stay in touch with local and global news headlines, weather forecasts, and even traffic warnings.
And then there’s iLane features that help a driver keep in touch with engine health, trip status, and fuel efficiency. iLane even provides useful driving tips, helping to keep a driver safe on the road by maintaining a permanent link between them and their vehicle’s health.
One of the most fascinating features shown off by IMS at Telematics Detroit 2011 was the voice email and text messaging feature. iLane read out any incoming texts or emails to Dr. Miners’ BlackBerry, which he could then reply to with a voice note.
If there’s one thing Dr. Miners’ demonstration revealed, it’s IMS’ commitment to balancing safety with information interactivity. At no point in the demo did Miners ever touch the IMS display, despite the fact that he accessed a wide variety of data, including news, weather, traffic, emails and voice mail.
“All this is done in a manner that is not distractive for the driver, allowing the driver to remain focused on their primary task, which is driving,” Dr. Miners said.
“When the information is available, it can be addressed at the driver’s leisure, when they want.”
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