BMW 7 Series: System Functions

What can be operated by voice input?

In the F01/F02, broadly speaking all the menus that can be viewed in the CID can be voice-controlled to the second level of a menu.

The graphic below shows the first level of the "Navigation" menu on the left, and the second level on the right.

Direct entry to the first level of the menu is a possibility for reducing the length of operating time needed to activate a particular function. This is done by saying aloud a term from the menu in question. Instead of having to say first "Navigation" and then "Destination entry", the user can simply say "Destination entry" to go directly to this function. The command is executed regardless of which menu is currently open.

Fig. 40: Selecting Address Menu

INDEX REFERENCE CHART

1. First level of "Navigation" menu
2. Second level of "Navigation" menu

Standard and Short Dialogs

Until now, all voice recognition systems have suffered from the drawback of appearing complicated to inexperienced users (beginners). The difficulties were due to the fact that the user was unaware of how many voice commands were available, or failed to enunciate the commands correctly and completely.

Experienced users (experts) on the other hand, had the advantage of knowing how to use the system quickly by using short commands.

In order to ensure that users in both these groups can use the system to their satisfaction, in the F01/F02 it is possible to select a "Standard" dialog for inexperienced users or a "Short" dialog for experts.

The "Standard" dialog provides detailed information while operation is in progress, but the "Short" dialog dispenses with this information for the sake of rapidity.

Example:

Standard dialog:

SYSTEM: "Say the name of a place"

USER: "Munich"- shows up on the display

SYSTEM: "Did you mean "Munich"?"

USER: "Yes"

Short dialog:

SYSTEM: "Place"

USER: "Munich"- shows up on the display

SYSTEM: "Did you mean "Munich"?"

USER: "Yes"

The dialog setting can be toggled between standard and short by selecting "Settings" "Language/units".

Fig. 41: Selecting Speech Mode

Language Setting

The current voice recognition systems do not offer the customer the option of changing the input language without expert assistance. The car has to be brought to the workshop, where BMW Service can change the language setting. The language is changed either by recoding or by replacing the appropriate control unit.

The new 7 Series BMW enables the customer to change not only the display language but also the input and output language of the voice activation system by means of iDrive.

The full range consists of eight languages:

• English (UK)
• French
• German
• English (US)
• Italian
• Spanish
• Dutch
• Japanese

All eight languages are saved on the hard disc.

Depending on the national-market specification, however, only three different languages are selectable with iDrive. The other languages can be activated by coding.

The menu item for changing the language setting is: "Setting" - "Language/units".

No beep after each step in a dialog sequence

Until now, before enunciating a command the user always had to wait for a confirmation beep marking the conclusion of a system message. This does not conform to the natural flow of speech, and often results in errors because the user speaks too soon.

In the F01/F02 there is no beep between the individual steps in a dialog sequence. There are now only two audio signals: One signal confirms the start of a dialog sequence and sounds immediately after the user presses the PTT (push-to-talk) button on the steering wheel. A second signal sounds to mark the end of the dialog.

Visual feedback in the instrument panel

In addition to the acoustic feedback issued by the voice input and activation system, the user also receives visual confirmation of the result (e.g. after enunciating the command "New number" via the instrument panel.

The system's input prompt "e.g. Enter digits" appears at the same time in the instrument panel.

Consequently, the user has improved orientation and can more easily follow the sequence of functions and the changes from menu to menu in the CID.

Fig. 42: Identifying PTT Button

INDEX REFERENCE CHART

1. PTT

Fig. 43: Identifying Display On Instrument Panel

INDEX REFERENCE CHART

1. Readout showing result of interaction with the voice input and activation system
2. Input prompt issued by the voice input and activation system

Combined mode with voice and iDrive inputs

This new function enables the user to operate the system by a combination of spoken commands and iDrive actions.

Until now, voice input has always aborted as soon as the controller was used to select an entry. This meant that the user had to press the PTT button again in order to resume voice input to complete the sequence.

In the F01/F02 the voice-input dialog remains open even if the controller is moved, so the user can immediately resume voice input to continue interacting with the system. This makes it much easier, for example, to enter a destination for the navigation system by selecting a street name from a list.

Extended destination entry in navigation

Voice-assisted destination entry has been extended in the following ways:

• Entry of intersections spoken command
• Entry of Zip codes

Voice control with up to 3000 entries

Until now, the phone book was the only administration function for which voice input could be used. In the F01/F02 it is now possible to use spoken commands to administrate the contacts, phone book and the address list. This means that three lists with up to 3000 entries can be operated by voice control.

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