What? Ford's Sync voice system turns deaf ear to women

Ford is trying hard to improve its Sync in-car connectivity system, which allows you to control your iPod, ask GPS for directions and other fun things by voice command. The system may understand 10 times as many words as it did before, but it still has trouble understanding female voices.

The automaker demonstrated the system, along with its My Ford Touch system, yesterday in Dearborn, Mich., to show off its new skills. Yet it had trouble hearing a request from Drive On's Sharon Silke Carty for directions to a street named Wilson. First three times, it simply didn't understand the request. The final time, it sent us to Lucy Avenue instead.

A demonstration in front of journalists went awry, too. The female presenter asked for directions to Prince Street, and was sent to Ridge Street.

Ford is ambitiously pushing to get voice technology right. When it works, it keeps drivers eyes on the road instead of fiddling with GPS maps or iPod controls.

Ford plans to have My Touch technology -- a screen-based dashboard system that uses Sync voice commands -- on 80% of its fleet by 2012.

John Schneider, chief engineer of Ford's multimedia and infotainment engineering, says drivers can load a song from their iPod in less than 5 seconds using voice recognition technology. Using their hands, it can take 30 seconds, with plenty of time with eyes off the road.

The automaker is working with speech technology developer Nuance to create a library of possible driver requests.

Schneider says it takes about three tries for the system to learn your voice, and admits it is most accurate with American accents.

When it understands your voice, the program is much improved over the previous version. It is far easier to enter a destination into the navigation system, and playing songs is much easier. Currently, drivers who want to make a call have to say "Phone," then wait for the systems to recognize the command before moving on. In the next generation, drivers can simply say, "Call Jane Doe."

-- By Sharon Silke Carty/Drive On