Thursday, September 15, 2011

Why did GPS systems change from a computer voice to a human voice?

I am looking for any statistics or articles on what happened when GPS systems incorporated a human sounding voice. Did sales increase? I am researching the importance of voice tone and i thought GPS might be a good example.|||Some of the reasons I have heard were:





1. Easier to understand





2. Less intimidating





Much like how many GPS systems have a female voice option; people feel less intimidated by a female voice.





Weird huh? It's amazing what we learn about humans over time.|||what would you rather hear?|||For systems that repeat a certain number of set phrases, a human voice works better because it's easier to understand. An actual human voice can be recorded digitally and stored in a ROM chip, and this is simpler than a voice synthesizer (I was going to say it's cheaper but they probably cost about the same).





A voice ROM can only repeat certain words and phrases that were recorded into it, so it has a smaller vocabulary. A voice synthesizer can say -anything-, but GPS's don't need that much vocabulary, just simple directions like 'turn left', 'turn right' ,etc.|||Im assuming sales did increase otherwise it wouldnt have been done. Everything in business is done on the basis of profit

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