New Ford in-car technology learns to better understand Australian accents

VOICE commands are coming to cars, but not all of them understand Aussie drawl. That’s where Ford rolls in with a game changer.

The Apple Car Play screen in Ford SYNC 3, which now better understands Australian accents. Picture: Supplied.

FORD has developed new technology to help its imported cars speak local lingo once its Broadmeadows and Geelong factories close in a little over a month from now.

By the end of this year, Ford’s most popular models will come with voice activation technology that can better understand Australian drawl to make or accept phone calls, ask for directions, or dictate text messages.

The technology called “SYNC 3” is part of an upgrade that also brings Apple Car Play and Android Auto to Ford cars such as the Focus hatchback, Mondeo mid-size sedan, Ranger ute, Everest 4WD, and the Mustang muscle car.

Seamless smartphone connectivity to cars is fast becoming standard equipment for many brands, including Holden, Hyundai, Suzuki, Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz — but top seller Toyota still has no plans to introduce the technology.

Ford is priding itself on its latest tech update, which is designed specifically to understand local accents.

“The SYNC 3 system is better tuned to suit Australian accents,” says George Christopoulos, a multimedia engineer with Ford Australia.

But those who use English as a second language may still need to be patient with voice recognition technology.

“As with any voice system, most people fall within a certain band (of accents) and some people fall outside that band,” says Mr Christopoulos.

“We’ve tried to improve the success rate of people using all accents, including Australian.”

Ford says when SYNC 3 uses the option of Google voice search, the system will understand abbreviated Aussie jargon such as “arvo” (afternoon), “servo” (service station or petrol station) and “Maccas” (McDonald’s).

As part of the upgrade, the new touch screen has a faster processor and is more sensitive to touch inputs; Ford says users can pinch, swipe or zoom the screen just as they would on a smartphone.

This reporter is on Twitter: @JoshuaDowling