Voice control - experiences/hints and tips

[Daveotto]

Could not find a specific thread or FAQ on whether the 8V voice control was any good and whether it was widely used and liked/disliked so thought I would start the ball rolling. (V8 will always correct me if I have missed it )

Anyway...my personal experience in 2 8V's (neither with any type of tech pack upgrade) is that at worst it's pretty much a waste of time and at it's best temperamental and inconsistent so have pretty much given up using it.

My typical uses tend to be for finding a phone contact or changing music tracks and in both cases its easier to use the steering wheel scroll wheel or nudge the volume control button on the center console which both give almost instantaneous response rather than press a button, speak and wait for it to recognize the command.

The whole voice control thing still seems gimmicky and really does not add much in my experience or maybe it just dont like my voice or I have never given it enough time to learn my voice.

Interested in other peoples views and how it compares to systems in other cars (Audi or other makes)

 

[Scottk]

Agreed, tried it on mine but just won't understand me! Can't be bothered to waste time on it now.

 

[DJAlix]

Agreed, tried it on mine but just won't understand me! Can't be bothered to waste time on it now.

In the main setup menu there is a Voice Training option which gets you to repeat words and numbers in order to try and learn your tone and accent. It kinda works.

 

[Tej13]

I don't have the Tech Pack and find the Voice Control fairly pointless.

It always does what I ask and seems to understand me, but anything I want to do seems to take four or five steps to achieve, when it will take a fraction of the time to do by the steering wheel controls

maybe I'm not using it correctly....

 

[Daveotto]

In the main setup menu there is a Voice Training option which gets you to repeat words and numbers in order to try and learn your tone and accent. It kinda works.

Had not realised there was a training package, will have to try it next time I am stuck in traffic or on a long French motorway journey

 

[DJAlix]

Had not realised there was a training package, will have to try it next time I am stuck in traffic or on a long French motorway journey

I found it by accident while stuck in crazy traffic one day near the dartford crossing. Takes about 5mins to complete. Hard to tell if it made any difference tho as the system always completed what I asked of it before training but it might help you.

Looking at what the MMI unit actually is, basically an Nvidia PC complete with expansion slots, I am shocked at how bad the MMI application and it's implemented features actually are. Voice control is far too slow to be "real world" useful.

 

[Daveotto]

in Audi's (and car manufacturers in general) defense there core skill is making engines, gearboxes etc. and mechanical engineering stuff and not electronics stuff like developing IT systems and interfaces (but they should be getting better at it).

I work in a techincal engineering role in the pharmaceutical industry and we also go walkabout when it come to integrating electronics in to our products...lol

 

[DJAlix]

You would have thought with the way in which they are big'ing up the system here they would have done a better job with the software and features.

Edit 1: Opps, wrong link. Will update in a few mins lol
Edit 2: Link updated.

 

[Jassyo06]

Hi Dave,never knew the S3/A3 had this voice control thing..lol my ST had this, it was okay ...will try it the next time l am in the car...hope its very obedient...Audi slave...lol

 

[Simon L]

Haven't really played with it much myself, occasionally tell it to call the missus when I can't be ***** to flick through the directory but as some of the other guys have said I can't imagine it makes life easier for other apps. Voice control is a bit of a gimmick anyway though to be fair!

@DJAlix, sorry mate I've gotta disagree with you on the rest of the MMI functionality, I find it pretty much flawless

 

[DJAlix]

Haven't really played with it much myself, occasionally tell it to call the missus when I can't be ***** to flick through the directory but as some of the other guys have said I can't imagine it makes life easier for other apps. Voice control is a bit of a gimmick anyway though to be fair!

@DJAlix, sorry mate I've gotta disagree with you on the rest of the MMI functionality, I find it pretty much flawless

Thats because you have the TechPack The standard MMI is ok but not great. Both systems do their job but could be a lot better given the underlaying hardware and OS, and some of the design and operation scream's "after thought" in my mind.

Sorry, hope I have not taken this thread off topic.

 

[RichardT]

When I picked up my car and the dealer was going through the controls, she pointed out the voice control switch and said "that's for the voice control. It doesn't really work so you won't be using that". And I never have even tried. But I suppose I should give it a go really

 

[JohnM100]

I did the voice training shortly after collecting the car, so don't have a 'before' to compare it to.

I have non-tech pack and find it works pretty well for what it can do but with 2 caveats:
* It is a bit slow and clunky but gets it right most of the time.
* Telling me to close the windows or air vents to reduce background noise when they are closed but the tyre road noise is causing it. That's more of a sound dampening issue with the car than the voice control itself.

If you have an iPhone, saying "call John Smith private" works better than saying "call John Smith home" even though the number is listed in my addressbook as their home number. Addressbook not stored on car though - that was a world of pain.

 

[jaypers777]

Only really use it if I want to call someone, and it's quite handy for this "Phone Bill" etc.......not that I know anyone called Bill.

 

[Liquidfusion-S3]

Only use it when I need to go home and I'm concentrating and keeping my eyes on the road

"Navigation.... Home Address.... Yes!"

 

[Daveotto]

Consensus here seems to be its nit that good !!!!!

And can only agree after spending nearly two hours to cover 10 miles in traffic on the journey home from work last night so had time to do the voice training thing and play around with voice controls and the only voice command that seems worthwhile and seems to work reprucibly is "call home" but still slower than via steering wheel buttons in cente MMI control.

 

[HawkeyeS3]

Well I use it a lot and actually find it very good, much better that flicking up and down through directories shown which means taking your eyes off the road.

You can swap across all 4 main functions just by saying the words - when on the M25 and concentrating, often I will swap from Nav to Media to actually playing the track from my iPhone - all done with voice.

Much of how I learnt it was from the inbuilt Help system - just say the word when you are in that function and you get a whole wealth of info, much easier than reading the confusing manual and a great way to while away the time in constant M25 traffic hold-ups .

I would have agreed with the above opinions until I spent a bit of time playing with the system and its functionality, and was pleasantly surprised about what useful commands are there (you soon remember the ones you want).

It's by far the best system I've used compared to the ones which were on my wire's previous Fiesta and my previous Evo.

And if it gets it wrong? Try the word "Correction" rather than starting over

So personally I find it useful, especially when I want to concentrate on the road.

 

[Simon L]

OK, so I thought I'd give this voice command thingy another bash................

Sat on my driveway at the weekend and must have tried for a good 15 mins talking dirty into the microphone. You can imagine my disappointment when I realised that no matter how hard I tried there wasn't gonna be a sexy 'ex-machina' style robot popping up out of the passenger seat........

.......come on Audi, you've missed a trick here