Honda eyes future with talking, emotion-reading cars
Science fiction has all but conditioned us to expect to be able to eventually interact with computers the same way we interact with humans. And as cars increasingly become like large mobile computers, people are thinking of new ways for people to interact with them.
Programs like Siri and Alexa are but first steps toward the goal of building true advanced artificial intelligence (AI) that recognizes human needs and assists us with nothing more than a simple verbal command. While stories like I, Robot and Terminator may tell cautionary tales of AI, scientists are still very much interested in creating more intelligent and intuitive computer systems. This is exactly what Honda and Softbank Corp. have announced they’ll be working together to achieve starting this year.
Insurance Journal reports that the two companies envision a future in which cloud-connected cars can speak and interact with their drivers or passengers using software based on SoftBank’s friendly robot, Pepper, which can read human emotions.
The idea is that adapting this technology could allow cars to become more than just tools to be manipulated by the driver and making the relationship more symbiotic. Vehicles would be able to chat with the driver to keep them awake on long, boring drives, they could offer advice and security to nervous or inexperienced drivers. It could maybe even detect states of intoxication and keep someone from driving drunk or high.
With enough consternation and controversy over the development of self-driving technology, no one can really say how accepting people will be of a car that can not only drive itself but talk for itself too. It’s likely that the software would need to be limited to a small set of features for people to accept it. And maybe Hollywood could stop producing so many movies with killer robots?