A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to test the new Mercedes A-Class and its MBUX system that integrates an intelligent assistant to make the interaction between vehicle and driver, through voice, more natural. I have already written that the experience was not what I expected, among other things because I missed a greater understanding of the Spanish language when I gave some instruction to the vehicle.
In Lisbon, at an event especially dedicated to the European technology press, Daimler gave me a second chance for the MBUX and its natural language provided by the Californian company SoundHound and myself to understand each other better. The truth is that understanding in English is much more successful. This was recognized by those responsible for the Daimler firm. Voice recognition, in Spanish, needs to be learned from users, and in this case from those of Spanish origin. The more Spanish users you have, the more you will learn and the system will improve.
Although the natural language of the MBUX is capable of recognizing 23 different languages, and although each language has been developed for Class A in each country, there are differences in effectiveness with each language. Daimler does not want to leave its system to companies with more experience in building digital voice assistants for the home or for the smartphone such as Google, Amazon or Apple. They already collaborate with them so that Mercedes customers who have devices of these brands can without problems use their services within Daimler cars. “For Mercedes Benz, the most important thing is to ensure that the user experience in our vehicles is fully satisfactory, and that is why we have decided to work with SoundHound, a startup in which we also have a small stake, and not with other large technology companies. ”.
What surprised me the most about the Lisbon tests of the MBUX and its smart system was the integration with What3words. Simply spectacular, in clear English. In Spanish I was not able to make it work. What3words is a global address system or a navigation app, but with a great particularity. As its COO Claire Jones says, “We have divided the world into three by three meter squares, and each of those squares has been assigned a unique 3 word address. In total 53 billion squares for What3words to offer an accurate and easy way to share a location. This means that now all people and all places have an address ”.
The UN estimates that 4 billion people lack a reliable address system, and that in this way they are denied access to basic social and civic services. “They have problems opening bank accounts, registering a birth, or accessing electrical or water supplies. Without the ability to communicate where they live, these people are invisible ”.
As Claire Jones notes, “It is difficult for a voice system to distinguish between Ammanford Road 15 (pronounced ‘fiftiin’) and Ammanford Road 50 (pronounced ‘fifti’), and many street names are not unique. There are 14 different streets called Church Road in London, and 632 streets called Juárez in Mexico City. Some postal addresses can also be difficult to pronounce. For example, the town of Godmanchester is pronounced ‘Gamster’.
Each 3 word address is unique, and the What3words AutoSuggest tool helps you find and correct mistakes made when entering data. This ensures that drivers always reach the correct destination. Using precise 3-by-3-meter locations allows drivers to enter not just a building, but an entrance or a specific parking space into the navigator for a differential experience. “With what3words Mercedes-Benz drivers will be able to enter destinations that do not have a postal address, such as a wedding venue lost in the countryside, a beach with a view or a viewpoint.”
Mercedes-Benz is the first automotive company to integrate what3words into its car navigation systems. In Lisbon we tested it in the A-Class with the MBUX and the intelligent voice assistant, and we were able to reach the exact points indicated on the navigator. Undoubtedly a point in favor of the German brand, which not only works on the innovation of future autonomous cars, but also seems to have taken the lead in the introduction of advanced technologies such as intelligent voice assistants.
