Was out at our track facility the other day for some "fun" driving. Found a rather ordinary looking cruiser in the staging area but had no markings, all white. Asked who that car belonged to and was told it is a new unit for us to "play" with. I said alright, but it doesn't look so special, whats up? Come to find out its a testbed for the new voice activated interface called TACNET for Public Safety vehicles offered by the company Visteon.
You get in it and right away notice that its no ordinary felon taxi. First thing I noticed was a small clear "screen" that was attached to the headliner just in front of the driver's side sunvisor. Follow the path to the rear and there is a small projector attached near the dome light. Look down between the seats where the regular radio console is housed and find a mouse-like device with a few ergonomic buttons and thumbwheel. A folding keyboard was next to it and both units are very compact, not intruding on interior space at all. A small, compact printer was mounted just in front of these 2 pieces too. Up where the AM/FM radio is usually located is a computer screen approx. 9"x7". Only items that were familiar was the radar antenna mounted near the spotlight handle and the onboard video camera near the rear view mirror.
Now, power this sucker up and a whole new world unfolded before my eyes. The "screen" near the visor immediately gave a greeting and showed the systems that were activated. The computer screen came to life and gave a plethora of menu options, all touch activated. A fellow officer who was familiar with the car rode shotgun and said, lets go. He said to choose the voice program and give a simple command "lights and siren". Lit up like Christmas tree with the siren blaring. Video camera came on and started to record my "pursuit". Chose/said "intersection sweep" and the siren changes tones. Cool. Has voice activated capacity for all modes of light patterns and siren tones and any combination is just a voice command away. My partner says to activate the license and registration check feature. I say the license plate number for my personal vehicle. Within seconds it comes back with the full registration info, warrant checks (have none, thank you
) status etc. I could choose to have this info spoken, viewed on the little heads-up screen or printed out on the printer. Neat. Has capability of following a few dozen voice commands and almost twice that many at a simple touch on the master screen or the hand controller between the seats. Rumor has it that we will have Bluetooth earpieces that will allow us to communicate back to the car when we are out on foot. Shades of Knightrider. Kit! Run over bad guy!
Played with it for over an hour and really found it to be simpler and safer to use. No more having to look at a small monochrome dispatch terminal screen while I type in info and avoid rear-ending the car in front of me (don't laugh, its happened......alot). I personally like it and hope it gets installed fleetwide soon.
Now if I can just get it to alert me when the Hot-To-Go sign comes on at the Krispy Kreme it will perfect. Til I get doughnut glaze on the touchscreen and cause some sort of system meltdown
. More info here: http://www.evisteon.com/prod_serv/tacnet/index.shtml
You get in it and right away notice that its no ordinary felon taxi. First thing I noticed was a small clear "screen" that was attached to the headliner just in front of the driver's side sunvisor. Follow the path to the rear and there is a small projector attached near the dome light. Look down between the seats where the regular radio console is housed and find a mouse-like device with a few ergonomic buttons and thumbwheel. A folding keyboard was next to it and both units are very compact, not intruding on interior space at all. A small, compact printer was mounted just in front of these 2 pieces too. Up where the AM/FM radio is usually located is a computer screen approx. 9"x7". Only items that were familiar was the radar antenna mounted near the spotlight handle and the onboard video camera near the rear view mirror.
Now, power this sucker up and a whole new world unfolded before my eyes. The "screen" near the visor immediately gave a greeting and showed the systems that were activated. The computer screen came to life and gave a plethora of menu options, all touch activated. A fellow officer who was familiar with the car rode shotgun and said, lets go. He said to choose the voice program and give a simple command "lights and siren". Lit up like Christmas tree with the siren blaring. Video camera came on and started to record my "pursuit". Chose/said "intersection sweep" and the siren changes tones. Cool. Has voice activated capacity for all modes of light patterns and siren tones and any combination is just a voice command away. My partner says to activate the license and registration check feature. I say the license plate number for my personal vehicle. Within seconds it comes back with the full registration info, warrant checks (have none, thank you
Played with it for over an hour and really found it to be simpler and safer to use. No more having to look at a small monochrome dispatch terminal screen while I type in info and avoid rear-ending the car in front of me (don't laugh, its happened......alot). I personally like it and hope it gets installed fleetwide soon.
Now if I can just get it to alert me when the Hot-To-Go sign comes on at the Krispy Kreme it will perfect. Til I get doughnut glaze on the touchscreen and cause some sort of system meltdown
