I was reading through the manual last night (ooo... bedtime reading!) and noticed that there was one section detailing a zillion combinations of indoor/outdoor beeps that signify various (mostly not-desired) issues. Eeek! One would either have to memorize those two dense pages or keep the manual in the car and bookmark that section or... ack! In this day and age, that seems pretty lame. Why oh why couldn't -- at least on the nav package -- Jill be trained to actually say some non-nav helpful stuff, like: "Warning: You left your keys inside the car. Please retrieve them." "Warning: You're running low on gas." "Warning: Your parking brake is on. Before driving, please disengage parking brake." "Warning: You are significantly exceeding the maximum speed limit." [threshold settable in prefs] "Warning: Low weight in back suggests young children present. You may wish to set back door safety locks." "Warning: Darkness outside suggests need for headlights." [noticeable via backup camera] And maybe I'm being just silly now, but (really), I think it'd be neat to optionally have Jill say stuff like the following: "Good morning [or Good afternoon or Good evening]" "Goodbye." "Happy Prius anniversary!" The key is that (ideally) some or (at minimum) all of the warning and greeting prompts could be disabled. What do you think? Might these voice prompts prevent accidents or car harm? Or serve as a cute Prius introduction, particularly for not-yet-Prius-owners? (personally, I'd get a kick out of an unobtrusive and brief "Good afternoon," especially when introducing friends to my car
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ThatAdamGuy @ Dec 26 2006, 05:56 AM) [snapback]366645[/snapback]</div> Good idea. Probably achievable too although there would probably need to be an option for the car owner to change the language. Or maybe by changing a DVD you could insert your own voice recording to give the warnings, etc. Comedians (or those who pretend to be) would have a field day customising their cars. An alternative would be to have these warnings coming up in bold lettering on the screen. Or maybe include this to run simultaneously with the voice warnings.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Oxo @ Dec 26 2006, 06:21 AM) [snapback]366647[/snapback]</div> Good Idea theoreticily, but really annoying in action! A friend of mine had an '80s Chrysler product that had a couple of voice advisories in its "K" car bag of tricks. The most annoying one was: "A door is ajar". He finally had the car "lobotimized" to end the tirades. Even useful warnings become really annoying when repeated with the exact intonation again and again.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ThatAdamGuy @ Dec 26 2006, 05:56 AM) [snapback]366645[/snapback]</div> You must be single!
Oh, jeez. I can just see it now. Me: "Open the driver's side door, Jill." Jill: "I'm sorry, Steve, I'm afraid I can't do that."
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Oxo @ Dec 26 2006, 03:21 AM) [snapback]366647[/snapback]</div> Sheesh...I'm gonna have to do the "Self Destruct" gag. a. Record a track of music on a CD. The next track would be a female voice that sounds like the Nav's "Jill." b. Have a friend in the car, run the music track, and tell him/her to fool with the nav. Make sure he/she does something that causes Jill to speak. It doesn't matter what, as long as we hear her talking. c. At the right moment, advance the CD track using the steering-wheel button. The fake "Jill" voice (from the CD) now says: Self-destruct mode has been enabled. Self-destruct will occur in...thirty...seconds. Please exit the vehicle immediately, to a distance of...one...thousand...meters." That oughta be good for a laugh. Now I need to find the voice talent.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ThatAdamGuy @ Dec 26 2006, 02:56 AM) [snapback]366645[/snapback]</div> I believe one of the American companies did that before. It's just as annoying as the automatic seatbelt. However, the silly bit is done on the Nissan Micra. However, it doesn't actually say it but simply displays the text in the radio screen. Heck, it will wish you happy birthday on your birthday (if you stored that into the car's calendar).
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius @ Dec 26 2006, 03:53 PM) [snapback]366907[/snapback]</div> It wasn't limited to just American cars. There seemed to be a fad in the mid 80s to do this. A friend's parents had a ~86 Chrysler New Yorker which had the a male synthesized voice which said things like "your door is ajar". Another friend's parents had an 86 Nissan Maxima which had a female synthesized voice if you got the "electronics package" (gave you a fancy stereo, digital speedo, exterior keypad to unlock the doors w/combination, etc.) It would say things like "headlights are on" and "right door is open". I distinctly remember this as I rode in both cars many times. It's too bad this fad has gone away as you can't buy any Nissan Maximas (used to have an 02) w/such a feature anymore. Seems like the only places were voice is "ok" nowadays is with nav systems. I wonder if the pendulum will swing back the other way. I just realized that syclone mentioned K-cars. The New Yorker of that era was based on the K-car platform.
What do you think? Might these voice prompts prevent accidents or car harm? Or serve as a cute Prius introduction, particularly for not-yet-Prius-owners? (personally, I'd get a kick out of an unobtrusive and brief "Good afternoon," especially when introducing friends to my car [/quote] I'd like Majel Barrett to be my computer's voice. She was the starship computers in Star Trek. HAL from 2001 should also be an option. I'm sure there are others. Never having one, I can't imagine it would be any worse than the nondescript idiot lights and beeps. And, yes, I'm single too.
I already enjoy the way the interior lights up when I approach. A little "hey, baby" when I power up would really make me feel the love. :lol:
I've heard this from others, too, but I don't get this from my car for some reason. Is there something not set right that I should change, or...? (I do have smart entry, and it appropriately unlocks the car for me; just doesn't light up in my presence) Touching on a few of the other comments... - Yes, I'm single. But a kinder question would have been, "Gee, you must have grown up watching Knight Rider" - Yes, I also got annoyed with the oft-repeated "Door is ajar" crap on other cars. But the way I've envisioned the Prius warning messages, they'd be much less common... and easily avoidable (keys left in car). - I could definitely imagine some potential for fun aftermarket options. "Surly Susanna, the British [censored]." "Jeeves the Butler." "Pamela Anderson sound-alike." and so on.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ThatAdamGuy @ Dec 26 2006, 10:08 PM) [snapback]367058[/snapback]</div> Make sure your dome lights are set to the DOOR position.
After pressing the voice button it should say "Please say a party", you say Republican or Democrat and the car responds by bashing the opposite party. I think this would go over really big here.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(syclone @ Dec 26 2006, 08:54 AM) [snapback]366662[/snapback]</div> Yes!!! The old joke: You're sitting in your Chrysler and pose the question, "when is a door not a door? Hmmmm, when is a door not a door...when..." then you open the door and the car replies: "A door is a jar..." It's kind of lame, but so was the voice. Now if I could get Mr. T to say something like, TAKE THIS EXIT, SUCKAH...YOU'VE REACHED YOUR DESTINATION...I LOVE IT WHEN A PLAN COMES TOGETHER...!!!!" instead of Jill's cloying monotone...wouldn't that rock? Hmmmm, maybe there's a big untapped market for celebrity voiceovers for talking cars...? I think Julie Andrews' voice would be amazing, or Olympia Dukakis'... First, though, Toyota has to figure out how to make an unobtrusive traction control system...then we'll consider this whole talking car thing again. [smile] I do think that cars with manual HVAC systems should say one thing, though...when the driver sets the vent control to 'RECIRC' and then the windows all fog up, the car should say, "hey Sherlock, how about letting some fresh air in to lower the humidity...?"
