A Ford Patent Reveals Work with Vehicle Interface UI with Siri
A Ford Global Technologies (part of Ford Motor Company) patent application published this week by the US Patent Office revealed their work on an-vehicle system using Siri. Ford notes that Apple, Inc. manufactures mobile phones and other portable electronics with Siri, an intelligent personal assistant that helps users utilize voice commands to execute specific commands on the phone, such as sending text messages, scheduling meetings, placing phone calls, etc. Additionally, SIRI utilizes natural speech and may utilize a series of prompts to complete a user's request. Apple also integrates SIRI into voice control systems of vehicle manufactures through Apple's "Eyes Free" solution. By utilizing a voice command button on a steering wheel, a driver may be able to activate SIRI on a user's phone. Additionally, the device's screen may stay in sleep mode to minimize distractions. Ford's patent covers a vehicle interface module that works with Apple's Siri.
Ford's patent application notes that "A first illustrative embodiment discloses a vehicle interface module configured to communicate with a nomadic device and a vehicle. The vehicle interface module comprises a wireless transceiver configured to communicate with a nomadic device and a vehicle transceiver configured to communicate with a vehicle data bus.
The vehicle interface module also includes a processor configured to receive a signal from the vehicle data bus using the vehicle transceiver, wherein the signal was initiated by a user input to a vehicle computer system.
Furthermore, the processor is also configured to determine that the signal prompts activation of a voice recognition session on the nomadic device, and provide input to the nomadic device using the wireless transceiver, wherein the input initiates a voice recognition session of the nomadic device."
Ford's patent FIG. 4 below illustrates "an example sequence diagram of a steering wheel interacting with an iOS device utilizing the vehicle interface module."
Ford notes when describing patent FIG. 4 above that "the vehicle interface device #403 may send a message via the HID Bluetooth profile to the nomadic device #411. The HID message may be a "Click and Hold" of the nomadic device's Home button, which in turn may activate a voice recognition session (e.g. SIRI of an iOS device). Thus, the nomadic device #405 may begin the voice recognition session. Once the voice recognition session begins, the nomadic device may communicate with the VCS utilizing a wireless connection (e.g. HFP profile) to send/receive data or information related to the voice request of the user."
Ford's patent filing lists Apple's Siri brand name six times versus only once for Android. .
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