I think this comes down to a matter of personal ethics and the depth of the communication going on. A quick "Hey I'm running late, be there in 10 minutes" should be harmless so long as the attention remains on the road and around the vehicle. If someone is giving the equivalent of a webinar while driving, I'd be inclined to agree that the risk for distraction is much higher.
Remember, driving a vehicle safely requires a good defense too. There was a viral video out last winter that confronted the subject of texting while driving. Targeted at teenagers and parents, the public service campaign pointed out that even a seemingly harmless action of looking away from the dashboard for just 3-5 seconds can be fatal.
So if voice activation interfaces handle this liability, then fine. I guess I'd like to see the field safety results and real-world beta testing before making a firm conclusion.
@Jacob: Talking on the phone while driving is synonymous to talking to a person sitting next to you. There is not much risk in that. The distraction with phones come when the user has to look at the phone's screen or handle the phone's buttons while driving. If the interface is completely voice-driven, I think talking on the phone or using a smartphone app via voice commands is completely safe.
Taimoorz, hearing the music and talking over the phone are different. Hearing the music or any other activity is a one side action, that’s we are only listening. But talking over the phone is a duplex activity; we have to listen and to respond at a time. Most of the times we have to think or recollect certain things while talking. I think most of the time, this may be a distraction for driving.
As long as the interface is voice-driven and does not require the driver to use his hands to navigate through the system, I think the use of smartphone apps while driving is fairly safe. After all, people are used to listening to music and shows on their stereos. If that can't be a distraction, using the app via voice commands can also not be.
It’s always better to consider smart car and smart phone separately. If we are using Smart car or smart phone separately and wisely, we can be a smart person. Otherwise, it would be over smartness, which can be ending up with tragedies. There are many apps for making our life smarter and simpler, but still nobody came up with any apps for saving a life and traumas.
@Himanshugupta I do not agree with the idea of working while driving. You can as well do a lot of this before leaving for office , because all those facilities can be used at your home in a more safer way without that hazard of getting distracted from your main function of driving. The driving time actually should be used to mentally relax, listen to soft music, sooth your nerves and prepare yourself for the busy day ahead in the office. We should not become to paranoid about using every available minute to be in touch except may be in case of an emergency.
That’s a big question, whether smart car and smart cars can co exist. I agree that many of us are driving more than 30 minutes and would like to do multitasking while driving. But personally i would like to suggest don’t mix drive with your mobiles, because any diversion in attention can cause accidents. Unless and until it’s a very urgent call, it’s better not to attend. There are some apps, which can respond to the incoming calls with an auto response that “The person you are calling is driving, please call after some time”. Such apps can make the driving smarter, than connecting the mobile to hands free or to car using blue tooth technology. While driving we have to take at most care because accidents can be happens due to negligence from both sides.
@Tvotapka, not anymore. For example, if i am driving to my office and it takes 30-45 minutes then instead of just driving i would like to finish the trivial (or important) stuff while on my way. Aren't we want to be connected all the time :-)
I agree Backorder, exactly, in fact mentioned example is reporting a third party doable to provide own platforms or applications for cars corporations. Don't know what auto majors are doing internally. It seems the near future is to integrate NFC or similar technologies but once again it is a patent provided by third parties.
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