voice recognition

 

I'm thinking about buying a GPS for the wife's car, one with voice recognition so she wouldn't have to mess with menus. How reliable is Garmin's voice recognition? She wouldn't need bluetooth so I was looking at the Nuvi 885.

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Anytime you have a 50-50 chance of getting something right, there's a 90% probability you'll get it wrong.

It depends

It depends a lot on the vehicle and the position of the GPS in relation to the driver. The microphone is sensitive but lacks the ability to filter noise like many good bluetooth headsets now do. It also depends on the speaker as there are a lot of times I get frustrated with my unit as it doesn't always understand the commands.

Overall, voice recognition is slower than touching the screen - you have to wait until the software is ready to accept the next command rather than pressing the screen immediately. Driving down the highway at speed can take over a minute to locate a custom POI depending on your file structure.

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ɐ‾nsǝɹ Just one click away from the end of the Internet

i've heard voice recognition

i've heard voice recognition doesn't work too well. haven't personally tried it myself.

Well, I use it

webazoid wrote:

i've heard voice recognition doesn't work too well. haven't personally tried it myself.

I use it and understand the limitations. It works extremely well on the Nuvi line when the conditions are right - no extra noise in the car from people talking or the radio playing and the cabin noise level is down.

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ɐ‾nsǝɹ Just one click away from the end of the Internet

Best GPS out there!

I love my Garmin Nuvi 885T. The voice recognition works almost flawlessly for me. Something like 95-99% accurate (when you roll up your windows, and don't have any music playing).

It sounds good but I'd have

It sounds good but I'd have to buy a vehicle with less road/engine noise entering the cabin, get the two little ones to fall asleep and then be able to turn off their music in order to create the ideal surroundings for voice recognition!

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Maps -> Wife -> Garmin 12XL -> StreetPilot 2610 -> Nuvi 660 (blown speaker) -> Nuvi 3790LMT

855

Don B wrote:

... She wouldn't need bluetooth so I was looking at the Nuvi 885.

If she doesn't need bluetooth, you might want to look at the 855 instead of the 885. You may as well save a few $$$ unless the traffic receiver that comes with the 885T is what interests you.

A couple of e-bay stores have recently been selling the 855 refurbs in the $200 range. If you buy from an e-bay store make sure you verify with the seller that they provide a printed invoice/receipt and a true Garmin warranty.

Edit: The 885T comes with MSN Direct traffic service which will be discontinued in 2012. So you might want to avoid the 885 for that reason as well.

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Alan - Android Auto, DriveLuxe 51LMT-S, DriveLuxe 50LMTHD, Nuvi 3597LMTHD, Oregon 550T, Nuvi 855, Nuvi 755T, Lowrance Endura Sierra, Bosch Nyon

The microphone on the Garmin seems next to useless

For both phone calls and voice recognition. Most people end up getting a Bluetooth headset and punching the on-screen buttons.

Depends on the vehicle as far as voice recognition works

In my MB sedan the 885T voice recognition works great and I now rarely ever touch the screen when using it in that car.

In my corvette with the top down voice recognition rarely works but I have no problem hearing the navigation prompts from the GPS.

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Garmin Drive Smart 55 - Samsung Note 10 Smartphone with Google Maps & HERE Apps

855

alandb wrote:
Don B wrote:

... She wouldn't need bluetooth so I was looking at the Nuvi 885.

If she doesn't need bluetooth, you might want to look at the 855 instead of the 885. You may as well save a few $$$ unless the traffic receiver that comes with the 885T is what interests you.

A couple of e-bay stores have recently been selling the 855 refurbs in the $200 range. If you buy from an e-bay store make sure you verify with the seller that they provide a printed invoice/receipt and a true Garmin warranty.

Edit: The 885T comes with MSN Direct traffic service which will be discontinued in 2012. So you might want to avoid the 885 for that reason as well.

I did a typo, I meant the 855, not 885. Amazon is selling the 855 for $217 with free shipping

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Anytime you have a 50-50 chance of getting something right, there's a 90% probability you'll get it wrong.

Still learning voice recognition on 885T

Position of the unit seems to make a difference. In my case, with a vent mount, the GPS is closer than a windshield mount and VR seems much more accurate. ALso, it seems that speaking slowly at a normal voice level and streching out the word sounds seems to makes a big difference. If I get frustrated with it and raise my voice it tunes me out.Temperamental?
ALso, I use a tape deck adapter and the 885 automatically turns off the music when using the voice remote control. I don't use the FM tuner because of background static every time I pass under a over head power line etc.
It will be interesting to see if Garmin continues making VR available or improves its accuracy with future firmware updates.

voice recognition on 885T

One of the best improvements they could make would be to redesign the voice input and make it noise reduction so it would work in noisy cars or even topless cabriolets - that's the fancy way of saying a convertible with the top down.

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ɐ‾nsǝɹ Just one click away from the end of the Internet

I also wish they provided a

I also wish they provided a microphone input on the device itself, instead of using the remote microphone.

Say "Camera"

I have been thinking of looking into the Voice Recognition feature for a while, but have refrained from doing so because I can't determine if they have a camera feature such as the 755. It would be nice (and extremely helpful) if you were riding along and spot a POI that needs to be added to a POI file and just say "camera". A picture of the current coordinates as well as a possible short recording (Golden Corral, Shell Station, good lookin' blonde with tight jeans, three legged hog, etc.) would be immediately available. Blonde with tight jeans was just to see if you are reading with comprehension, because, at 70 years old, it doesn't apply to me. Just ain't interested. Food on the table is more important.

Curt

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The biggest troublemaker you'll probably ever have to deal with, watches you from the mirror every mornin'.

Say Camara

Blonde with tight jeans was just to see if you are reading with comprehension, because, at 70 years old, it doesn't apply to me. Just ain't interested. Food on the table is more important.

Curt

Boy you must be getting old. laugh out loud I'am 67 and I still like to look and think about a blond in tight pants. laugh out loud

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johnm405 660 & MSS&T

Two microphones on 885T.

jakas wrote:

I also wish they provided a microphone input on the device itself, instead of using the remote microphone.

There are two microphones on the 885T device itself (front center top & rear left bottom) and none
on the remote. Check your QuickStartManual, page 3.

855

I just got an 855, the VR is about 80% with my southern accent, if you are listening to mp3 or other apps the thing will lockup and freeze. have to take out the battery to reset. if you are using it just to navigate it's ok.

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Garmin-Nuvi 855, 200W, etrex vista

Mic Gain

What about the Mic Gain on the 885T Hidden menu. What does that do ?

Mic Gain

Haven't tried it. But if you acquire the guts to do so yourself, please let us know the results.

Mic gain

It increases the mic's sensitivity for sound pick up. Think recording volume.

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nüvi 3790T | Those who make peaceful revolution impossible, will make violent revolution inevitable ~ JFK

Mic Gain

Yeah, but the point was "Tryer Beware".
Some of the unadvertised/hidden functions cause the unit to crash or produce unpredictable results.

I have to laugh at this!

Try it in minor increments, not the whole Monty... Nothing is Fool-Proof! wink

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nüvi 3790T | Those who make peaceful revolution impossible, will make violent revolution inevitable ~ JFK

Mic Gain

The mic gain is set at 80% I have adjusted it to 90% it worked ok there but it goes right back to 80% when I turn it on the next time.

I have the 855 and

I have the 855 and continually use voice commands for both navigation and music. So far, no problems with the unit freezing when using both nav and music.
There are th odd times when I have to repeat a command for whatever reason. Note that you have to wait a few seconds for the unit to ready itself to receive a spoken command. The audio prompts are very good.
For music the number of commands available seem to rather limited, however I find it very useful.
All in all I like the system.

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nuvi 855. Life is not fair. I don't care who told you it is.

I'm a hot shot driver in the

I'm a hot shot driver in the Houston area and recently upgraded from a Nuvi 200W to an 855 unit. I did so mostly for the voice navigation as well as the ability to create routes. Trying to drive around in the Houston traffic and punch buttons on the Nuvi is suicidal so voice recognition is mandatory in my opinion. I've had the 855 an entire week and I have to say I love it. The voice recognition works 90% of the time but it is less reliable when there is lots of road noise. I drive a Honda Fit which has practically zero noise insulation so when driving at high speed I sometimes have to repeat commands. When driving slow or at a complete stop it works perfectly. Like a previous poster mentioned it does lock up if you are listening to music as well as navigating and requires you to remove the battery. I don't have a southern drawl but I have had to learn to speak to it more phonetically if that is the right term. We have a street here named Kuykendahl which is pronounced Kerkendall with the 'Y' sounding like an 'ER'. I have to say it with and 'ER' for it to recoginze the correct street. I've had to learn to think like the machine when pronouncing some names but where you get the hang of it it works great. The route option is a god send! I only hope Garmin comes out with a voice recognition model with the new NuLink option. I'd buy it in a flash.

How to select language for Voice Recognition

The Voice recognition on my 2595 worked great until the last update. It added Great Britain and Australian voice recognition files. I tried deleting them, but can't figure out which files to delete. How does it know which voice recognition language to use? I see no way of selecting it. If I select an Australian voice, does it expect me to speak with an Australian accent?

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><> Glenn <>< Garmin nüvi 2598

Language

I assume it expects the same language that the map and all the other screens display in normal use.

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nuvi 855. Life is not fair. I don't care who told you it is.

Different Languages

Since I can select different languages for voice, text, and keyboard, I would guess it goes by the selected voice language. If that's the case, that would prevent me from using my preferred Australian voice.

That means I need to figure out how to delete the GB and Austraalian voice recognition files.

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><> Glenn <>< Garmin nüvi 2598

Voice recon can be hit or

Voice recon can be hit or miss. Biggest issue is noise. Either from the car inside and out and other sources.

Some info

gdfaini wrote:

Since I can select different languages for voice, text, and keyboard, I would guess it goes by the selected voice language. If that's the case, that would prevent me from using my preferred Australian voice.

That means I need to figure out how to delete the GB and Austraalian voice recognition files.

On my nuvi, I also use Aussie Karen most of the time as my TTS voice. I find that my spoken English commands ("Great Lakes American with a hint of the Southwest" accent) are understood quite well.

Some info from Garmin:

https://support.garmin.com/support/searchSupport/case.faces?caseId={09f23c50-d7a5-11df-c826-000000000000}

From the above link:

Please note the text and voice language settings on the device must be the same as the language you'll be using with voice command. The selected voice language must also be one that supports text-to-speech.

If you want to tinker, be careful and have a backup. Voice command files are in your nuvi's ASR directory. Even with a backup, my suggestion would be to try disabling voice recognition files by renaming them rather than deleting them from the nuvi. My way to disable files while keeping them where they are is to keep the original file name with an appended .disabled. My guess is that files renamed as I suggest will remain on the nuvi through future map updates so that you may want to either go back to the original filename just prior to doing a map update--or to do a map update, then go to the ASR folder on the nuvi and check to see if disabled files need to be manually deleted.

food on the table ? ? ?

u must be a very old 70 ... blonde in tight jeans is AGELESS !

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Golf,whenever and wherever you can ... Always swing hard, just in case you hit it ..... If you can reach it,you can hole it, SEE IT FEEL IT DO IT !

855 VR

My 855 has voice recognition. It does OK. The technology is limited in what it does, and it is a bit sluggish. But, it works ok with those bounds.

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___________________ Garmin 2455, 855, Oregon 550t

Original Question

I think, by now, Don B has the information he wants. This thread started back in October.

Original Question ...

spullis wrote:

I think, by now, Don B has the information he wants. This thread started back in October.

... of 2009 laugh out loud

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Alan - Android Auto, DriveLuxe 51LMT-S, DriveLuxe 50LMTHD, Nuvi 3597LMTHD, Oregon 550T, Nuvi 855, Nuvi 755T, Lowrance Endura Sierra, Bosch Nyon

??

spullis wrote:

I think, by now, Don B has the information he wants. This thread started back in October.

What about gdf's questions from, ahhh, 8:36AM?

Thanks.

CraigW wrote:

On my nuvi, I also use Aussie Karen most of the time as my TTS voice. I find that my spoken English commands ("Great Lakes American with a hint of the Southwest" accent) are understood quite well.

Some info from Garmin:

https://support.garmin.com/support/searchSupport/case.faces?caseId={09f23c50-d7a5-11df-c826-000000000000}

From the above link:

Please note the text and voice language settings on the device must be the same as the language you'll be using with voice command. The selected voice language must also be one that supports text-to-speech.

If you want to tinker, be careful and have a backup. Voice command files are in your nuvi's ASR directory. Even with a backup, my suggestion would be to try disabling voice recognition files by renaming them rather than deleting them from the nuvi. My way to disable files while keeping them where they are is to keep the original file name with an appended .disabled. My guess is that files renamed as I suggest will remain on the nuvi through future map updates so that you may want to either go back to the original filename just prior to doing a map update--or to do a map update, then go to the ASR folder on the nuvi and check to see if disabled files need to be manually deleted.

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><> Glenn <>< Garmin nüvi 2598

had the 885 and it worked ok but the 3790 works way better

Don B wrote:

I'm thinking about buying a GPS for the wife's car, one with voice recognition so she wouldn't have to mess with menus. How reliable is Garmin's voice recognition? She wouldn't need bluetooth so I was looking at the Nuvi 885.

I had the 885 and it worked ok but you have to mount the remote control steering wheel button that you push to make it work. sad

I now have the 3790LMT and the voice commands work much much better and all you have to do to initiate the voice command mode is just say "Voice Command" and it asks what you want to do. grin

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Garmin Drive Smart 55 - Samsung Note 10 Smartphone with Google Maps & HERE Apps

Voice Recognition

I have a 3790 that I flashed to a 3490. It is terrific on recognizing commands. Much quicker than pointing and touching while on the road. I really like not having to search for an entry. Simply saying the category, and then the name of where you want to go, and the screen loads and opens, waiting for the "Navigate" voice command. I have a Camry, very quiet interior, works every time I use it, and of course, I always hit mute on the radio before I start with the wake up command. I used it as a 3790 for a while, but after I flashed it to the latest level of 3490 software, it really works much better. I also have added a lot of custom POI's. Found out that if you make the POI Icons 44 X 44 they really show up without having to zoom in on the 3D map. I set the notification distance to 2000', works really well.
George

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George

Voice command

rjrsw wrote:

I had the 885 and it worked ok but you have to mount the remote control steering wheel button that you push to make it work. sad

I now have the 3790LMT and the voice commands work much much better and all you have to do to initiate the voice command mode is just say "Voice Command" and it asks what you want to do. grin

I disagree, my 3790 will all of a sudden pop up and go "Say a command" for NO reason whatsoever, with my 855 it only comes on when I click the steering wheel button!
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A question for:
Fri, 07/05/2013 - 7:35pm
gerogerace
Voice Recognition

I have a 3790 that I flashed to a 3490.

How do you flash the 3790. How does that work with Garmin updating your maps since you are probably registered as a 3790.

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Nuvi 2797LMT, DriveSmart 50 LMT-HD, Using Windows 10. DashCam A108C with GPS.