A vehicle control and interconnection system comprises a vehicle interconnection component and a supervisory controller. The vehicle interconnection component communicably couples to a portable electronic processing device and to native electronic peripherals of a corresponding vehicle, including a display. The supervisory controller provides control information to at least one native electronic peripheral to implement a customized vehicle configuration such that a corresponding peripheral or group of peripherals respond to control commands from the vehicle interconnection component in a coordinated manner. Also, the portable electronic processing device is programmed via a software download to implement a user interface that interacts with the display of the corresponding vehicle to provide information to the vehicle operator where at least part of the processing is carried out on the portable electronic processing device. Yet further, software modifications are wirelessly received via a transceiver and are processed through the vehicle interconnection component.

A vehicle control apparatus includes a start information acquisition unit that acquires start information including detection information about a key to a vehicle and a start instruction to start an engine, a first authentication unit that acquires, in accordance with the start information, sensing information about a user detected by a sensor of the vehicle and information about a preregistered user corresponding to the sensing information and authenticates whether the detected user is the preregistered user, a second authentication unit that acquires, in accordance with the start information, authentication information input by the user and preregistered authentication information corresponding to the authentication information and authenticates whether the input authentication information is the same as the preregistered authentication information, and a control information output unit that outputs control information regarding start of the engine based on at least one of the authentication results received from the first and second authentication units.

A method for a user/vehicle interface of a vehicle, having an input unit for input of at least one user command of a user, an output unit for output of at least one selectable vehicle setting of the vehicle to the user, and a controller connected in a signal-transmitting manner to the input unit and to the output unit, wherein the at least one vehicle setting output by means of the output unit is selected by means of the controller as a function of the at least one user command entered by means of the input unit and implemented at least partially as a voice command. In order to further improve the operation of a user/vehicle interface of a vehicle by a user, a user identification unit for identification of the user and/or a driving condition identification unit for identification of a driving condition of the vehicle are additionally provided.

The present disclosure relates to a vehicle control device for a vehicle having a voice input unit, an audio output unit, and a display. The vehicle control device may include a communication unit configured to communicate with at least one of the voice input unit, the audio output unit, and the display, and a processor configured to control the communication unit to output a message for inducing an utterance of a passenger aboard the vehicle in at least one of an auditory manner and a visual manner when a preset event occurs, and identify the passenger based on receiving a response of the passenger to the message through the voice input unit, and perform a different function based on the identified passenger.

Method and apparatus are disclosed for accelerometer-based external sound monitoring for voice controlled autonomous parking. An example vehicle includes a body control module, an infotainment head unit, and an autonomy unit. The example body control module communicatively couples to a mobile device. The example infotainment head unit communicatively couples to an accelerometer mounted on a window of the vehicle. The example autonomy unit autonomously parks the vehicle in response to a first key word detected by the accelerometer when (i) a button is activated on the infotainment head unit and (ii) a message from the mobile device is being periodically received.

An avatar interface of a virtual assistant is presented to a user in a motor vehicle and a predefined set of accessible elements is provided to be selected by the user. The accessible elements may be operating functions and/or information data. When at least one user statement of the user is received over the avatar interface; a question-answering logic is operated in the virtual assistant for determining at least one of the accessible elements that the user requests by the at least one user statement; and the at least one identified accessible element is made available to the user.

Method and apparatus are disclosed for accelerometer-based external sound monitoring for voice controlled autonomous parking. An example vehicle includes a body control module, an infotainment head unit, and an autonomy unit. The example body control module communicatively couples to a mobile device. The example infotainment head unit communicatively couples to an accelerometer mounted on a window of the vehicle. The example autonomy unit autonomously parks the vehicle in response to a first key word detected by the accelerometer when (i) a button is activated on the infotainment head unit and (ii) a message from the mobile device is being periodically received.

Audio analysis learning is performed using video data. Video data is obtained, on a first computing device, wherein the video data includes images of one or more people. Audio data is obtained, on a second computing device, which corresponds to the video data. A face within the video data is identified. A first voice, from the audio data, is associated with the face within the video data. The face within the video data is analyzed for cognitive content. Audio features corresponding to the cognitive content of the video data are extracted. The audio data is segmented to correspond to an analyzed cognitive state. An audio classifier is learned, on a third computing device, based on the analyzing of the face within the video data. Further audio data is analyzed using the audio classifier.

Provided herein are systems and methods to control vehicular functions using voice commands that originate outside vehicles. A plurality of microphones can be disposed on an exterior of a vehicle, and can detect a voice command from a user located outside the vehicle. The voice command can include an activation phrase followed by an operational command. The at least one of the plurality of microphones can activate, responsive to the detection, a speech module of the vehicle from a low-power mode. The speech module can authenticate the user according to the activation phrase of the voice command, and can determine a vehicular function corresponding to the operational command of the voice command. The speech module can cause the vehicle to provide an indicator to acknowledge the operational command. The speech module can activate an electronic control unit (ECU) that corresponds to the vehicular function, to perform the vehicular function.

Method and apparatus are disclosed for monitoring of vehicle window vibrations for voice-command recognition. An example vehicle includes a window, an outer layer, a vibration sensor coupled to the window to detect audio vibrations, an audio actuator coupled to the outer layer to vibrate the outer layer, and a controller. The controller is to detect a voice command from a user via the vibration sensor, identify an audio response based upon the voice command, and emit the audio response to the user via the audio actuator.