The voice of ‘Big Brother’

By Colin Windell

New driver safety aids include voice warnings to advise drivers when they transgress the rules and can be retro-fitted to trucks.

Nest step telematics includes voice warnings for drivers

A number of modern trucks come with in-built driver aids that offer a ‘beep’ when the user strays out of their lane, exceeds a pre-set speed limit or similar but, for older units these need to be retro-fitted.

ERM Advanced Telematics has launched a product to improve driving using human voice warnings – 

eVoice enables the recording in advance of up to 100 warnings in the driver’s native language, that are adapted to various problematic behavior patterns on the road.

A user-friendly software program is used to determine the exact warning to be played to the driver depending on the nature of the event.

The eFlash SF is a driver warning device, which includes six icons and LED lighting that is attached to the dashboard. The device uses flashing icons to warn the driver of dangerous behavior or driving patterns such as sudden acceleration, forceful breaking and sharp turns. In addition, eFlash SF includes a button that can serve as a panic button.

The eVoice and eFlash SF join the company’s eSafe product for identifying and analysing driver behavior and represent expansion of the existing solutions for safety and communications solutions.

The eVoice product is based on a speaker installed in a vehicle that utilises a processor and a memory chip for supplying the driver with human voice warnings designed to help him or her identify dangerous situations they made, while driving.

This service enables personalised learning by the driver with the aim of improving habits and behavior while driving. The device allows a fleet manager or the operator of the platform to record in advance up to 100 warnings in the mother tongue of the driver that are adapted to various dangerous patterns on the road or based on various situations of the vehicle, and to define with a user-friendly software program which warning will be played for each type of event. 

For example, if a driver made a sharp turn, a warning would be sounded to explain the incorrect behavior. In the event the driver went over the speed limit on a specific section of the road, he would receive a voice warning as would be the case with other unsafe driving events.

eVoice is capable of issuing a human voice warning upon identifying any unusual event of the type that can also be identified by a wide range of the company’s products, based on StartLink technology. It can also identify any unusual event of the type that can be detected by ERM Advanced Telematics’ add-on products such as eSafe or eData.

Among other features, eVoice can also warn of unusual events related to the vehicle’s mechanical condition such as engine problems or overheating as well as a wide range of extreme events that are identified by the eData interface based on CAN Bus data. eVoice customers can record in advance warnings in their own voice for each device or alternatively type a text message and convert it to voice using the text-to-speech capabilities which are also offered by eVoice.

The eFlash SF product serves as a warning system for the driver and includes six icons with LED lighting installed on the dashboard. It warns the driver, through the use of flashing icons and a series of beeps, of various situations that he or she needs to be informed of or require attention.

Icons can be defined for problematic behavior such as dangerous maneuvering, accelerations, excessive breaking and sharp turns. In addition, the fleet manager, the automaker or the operator of the system can define in advance actions for which visual warnings using lighting and icons can be given. These could include sections of roads with speed limits, speed cameras, holes in the road, dangerous intersections, designated areas for cargo collection, bus stops etc.

The eFlash SF even has push buttons that allow changes and adjustments to be made to the warning buttons and lighting of the system as necessary. One button can be designated as an emergency or danger signal, in the event the driver needs immediate assistance due to a vehicle malfunction or an extreme situation like an accident. Pressing on this button can enable the driver to be connected directly to an emergency center and initiate a communications channel with a service center.

Additional options can be defined such as speed dialing, in case of using a voice enabled device, an identification code for the driver, etc. ERM’s modular solutions support the use of one or the two products eFlash SF and eVoice, simultaneously, in order to give the warning even greater significance by use of both the flashing of the LED lighting and the voice warning capabilities of the two systems. 

"The ability of eVoice to supply warnings using a human voice for teaching correct driving habits is unique in the market,” says Eitan Kirshenboim, CMO at ERM Advanced Telematics.“The combination of eVoice and eFlash SF offers the driver a complementary array of voice and visual warnings that maximise the chance of responsible and safe driving.”