Ford and Lincoln car owners can now add personalized commands to their cars' built-in Alexa.
Ford Motors recently announced that Ford and Lincoln customers with Alexa Built-in can now program their onboard virtual personal assistant to perform vehicle functions based on their preferred phrasing thanks to new "enhanced Car Control capabilities."
The new feature's rollout began with the 2022 F-150, Bronco, Mustang Mach-E, Edge, the newly launched Ford Expedition, Nautilus, and the new Lincoln Navigator.
Ford's Alexa Personalization Details
According to Ford's announcement, Ford and Lincoln customers can personalize Alexa to their natural way of speaking and suit their everyday vocabulary.
With the new car control capabilities, users with a personalized Alexa can say, "Alexa, I'm cold," while the virtual personal assistant will reply with, "I can increase the temperature by five degrees or turn off the AC. What should I do?" .
Customers can also teach Alexa personalized phrases, such as "Alexa, set the AC to full blast," or "Alexa, set the temperature to cozy," to use with their familiar voice commands. In these cases, Alexa will recognize the supported voice command pattern and ask for clarification from the one who gave the command to learn what "full blast" or "cozy" means to them, specifically.
Engadget reported that the ability to train Alexa with these personalized phrases and everyday vocabulary was made possible thanks to the virtual personal assistant's teachable AI Technology.
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All Ford and Lincoln vehicles will have access to Ford's new Car Control capabilities when it becomes available to them. Currently, the 2022 F-150, Bronco, Mustang Mach-E, Edge, the newly launched Ford Expedition, Nautilus, and the new Lincoln Navigator have access to the new feature as the feature's rollout began with these cars.
John Scumniotales, General Manager and director for Amazon Smart Vehicles, said that Amazon is always working to improve the in-cabin experience, which also includes making it easier for customers to naturally interact with Alexa.
"The enhanced Car Control features offer customers a new level of personalization-and demonstrating this functionality with Ford is an important step toward our vision of conversations with Alexa feeling as familiar as speaking with a family member or friend sitting in the passenger seat," Scumniotales added.
Meanwhile, Ford Core Speech Technology supervisor Yvonne Gloria said that the addition of the new Car Control capabilities made it easier for drivers to stay focused while driving due to the personalized voice commands.
Ford's Live Demonstration
Ford also mentioned in its announcement that it would showcase the new Car Control capabilities alongside its soon-to-launch F-150 Lightning electric pickup at the New York International Auto Show from April 15 to April 24 during public show days.
The company aims to feature the car's built-in Alexa's capabilities from the basic functions such as listening to music, navigating, and controlling smart home devices, to the newly added personalized interactions previously mentioned.
Ford may also feature its other cars like the Mustang Mach-E, Edge, Escape Plug-in Hybrid, and Explorer Platinum during the event, per the New York International Auto Show's official website.
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