Speech control systems for handling of route guidance, radio and telephone in cars : results of a field experiment.

Manual control of driver information and support systems carries risks in terms of traffic safety. Speech recognition systems have progressed to a stage where useful applications can be seen. This paper investigates the benefit of speech recognition systems in cars. Three different control strategies were compared: manual, speech, and a human assistant. Three systems were examined: route guidance, car telephone and car radio with CD player. The mean number of visual glances per task varied with the experimental conditions. Manual control required the most glances. Only in the condition of speech control were no check glances observed, and it was found that older drivers in particular would gain a great deal from speech control. (A)