With the recent advancements in the state-of-the-art in natural language processing (NLP), we can do so much more to build an AI-powered voice interface that may be used for various applications, such as for assisting Toyota and Lexus owners.

Redundancy is perhaps technology’s greatest friend.

In the summer of 2019, Toyota Connected launched Drivelink to maintain the customer-to-automaker services such as Automatic Collision Notification, Emergency Assistance (via a vehicle’s “SOS” button), Stolen Vehicle Locator, Roadside Assistance, and Hands-Free Destination Assist, among other features.

In many cases, Toyota Connected is Toyota’s first stop for anonymized macro trends – Big Data – before those trends can be turned into technology. It’s no secret that data informs how cars operate and will more so in the future as they become more and more automated. For instance, a vehicle with a navigation system can see when a road turns using cellular and GPS signals.

Cars are connected with sensors that better help engineers determine what customers actually use. They’re electrified. The driver-assist functions can tackle some functions of highway driving with less cognitive load on the driver. It’s all fundamentally changing how we use cars.

We developed an algorithm, OBHIVE, to address the ride-sharing vacuum in Japan to aid an aging suburban population in navigating the city.

Five hundred pages of an owners manual is a lot to sort through when you need information. We decided to see if we could come up an innovative voice interface that would allow users to ask questions using natural language to quickly offer up answers.