Honda & Edge3 patent gesture/voice control system

visteongestureEDGE3 Technologies and Honda R&D patented their in-vehicle human machine interface (HMI) system that combines voice and gesture recognition.

In other words, you can control the in-vehicle systems with say turning a knob in the air.  A similar system is developed and tested by Visteon, called the Horizon cockpit. Visteon tested the Horizon cockpit in its research clinic. 70% showed a strong interest in a virtual volume knob in their next vehicle, stating that it was easier and more convenient than searching for a traditional volume knob.

The Honda Edge system uses vision analytics with any platform and can be used in low light environments. The core technology which uses integrated vision analytics was developed in secret by the companies.

This system allows drivers to control their car infotainment and climate systems.  The system offers secondary command input so that it can differentiates between intended and unintentional commands. This prevents wrong or inaccurate voice commands.

The core technology that uses integrated vision analytics has been developed in secret by the companies.

It uses computational stereo cameras for 3D machine vision and an artificial intelligence platform that runs on a standard system on a chip (SoC).