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Post by wvengineer on May 18, 2020 14:13:32 GMT
I have been playing with different "voices" that you can use with Google Maps to announce their directions. Interested to hear from people on both sides of the pond as to how accurate this is.
American Voice:
"In a quarter of a mile, take the on ramp on the right to I-68 west bound for 3 miles until exit 39 to US 40 National Highway."
British Voice:
"In a quarter of mile, take the slip road."
Okay, ignoring the differences in vernacular (roundabout/traffic circle, slip road/on ramp or off ramp, etc.) The British voice seems to use the bare minimum amount of info possible while the American poise uses a 'kitchen sink' methodology of giving you all the info you could possible want and then some.
Is this an accurate view of how each country deals with directions?
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Post by GTCGreg on May 18, 2020 14:37:53 GMT
I don't know, but Amazon's Alexa seems to have figured out how to filter through irreverent information. When my wife asks Alexa a question, she'll ramble on for four or five sentences. I'm listening to this thinking, "There's a question in there?" Then Alexa gives her the answer she's looking for. Maybe it's a women thing.
Wonder if Google Maps has a blond women setting.
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Post by the light works on May 18, 2020 15:10:17 GMT
when I'm using satnag, I will get:
"in (X distance), (take this action)" where "take this action" may be use the right lane or two lanes to exit, turn right, merge onto interstate 5, etc
"(take this action)"
"continue for (X distance)"
it only tells me follow up if it needs to happen within the advance warning period.
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Post by the light works on May 18, 2020 15:13:10 GMT
I don't know, but Amazon's Alexa seems to have figured out how to filter through irreverent information. When my wife asks Alexa a question, she'll ramble on for four or five sentences. I'm listening to this thinking, "There's a question in there?" Then Alexa gives her the answer she's looking for. Maybe it's a women thing. Wonder if Google Maps has a blond women setting. they do, but it only goes to the mall |
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Post by the light works on May 18, 2020 15:51:38 GMT
the thing I have noticed in multilingual documentation is that some translations are much more concise than others. I.e. one will say "push down and turn" while others might translate to "using your hand, press firmly on the cap towards the bottle to engage engage the tabs which allow you to turn the lid and remove it"
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Post by mrfatso on May 18, 2020 22:24:54 GMT
I have been playing with different "voices" that you can use with Google Maps to announce their directions. Interested to hear from people on both sides of the pond as to how accurate this is. American Voice: "In a quarter of a mile, take the on ramp on the right to I-68 west bound for 3 miles until exit 39 to US 40 National Highway." British Voice: "In a quarter of mile, take the slip road." Okay, ignoring the differences in vernacular (roundabout/traffic circle, slip road/on ramp or off ramp, etc.) The British voice seems to use the bare minimum amount of info possible while the American poise uses a 'kitchen sink' methodology of giving you all the info you could possible want and then some. Is this an accurate view of how each country deals with directions? It seems true to the Sat-Nav we have in our car. I have seen in other forums that our road signage is a little bit clearer and more frequent so the Sat-Nav is acting more as a reminder than actually having to give you the route in full. But I don’t know how true that is. Of course if you ask me for directions it’s: “Go down the hill by the church, turn left when you see the “Double Barrels” keep on going past the park through the lights until you see the “Windmill” and then do a right”. |
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Post by GTCGreg on May 18, 2020 22:43:36 GMT
If you ask my wife for directions, she’ll tell you, turn right a block before you get to the dollar store.
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Post by the light works on May 18, 2020 22:46:00 GMT
I have been playing with different "voices" that you can use with Google Maps to announce their directions. Interested to hear from people on both sides of the pond as to how accurate this is. American Voice: "In a quarter of a mile, take the on ramp on the right to I-68 west bound for 3 miles until exit 39 to US 40 National Highway." British Voice: "In a quarter of mile, take the slip road." Okay, ignoring the differences in vernacular (roundabout/traffic circle, slip road/on ramp or off ramp, etc.) The British voice seems to use the bare minimum amount of info possible while the American poise uses a 'kitchen sink' methodology of giving you all the info you could possible want and then some. Is this an accurate view of how each country deals with directions? It seems true to the Sat-Nav we have in our car. I have seen in other forums that our road signage is a little bit clearer and more frequent so the Sat-Nav is acting more as a reminder than actually having to give you the route in full. But I don’t know how true that is. the degree to which US road signage is clear and comprehensible is definitely regional. I know that other than style, the signage I saw over there was very much like I'm used to here. what I didn't notice was that here, on freeways, the exits are numbered and the numbers match the mileage markers. and I didn't notice if that same pattern is followed over there. granted, I really didn't see something I would equate to our freeway system while I was there. (our freeways are like your dual carriageways, except they go continuously from beginning to end with only on and off ramps and no cross traffic at all. I.E. I could get on interstate five at the Canadian border and drive to the Mexican border with nary a roundabout or intersection.) |
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Post by the light works on May 18, 2020 22:48:04 GMT
If you ask my wife for directions, she’ll tell you, turn right a block before you get to the dollar store. several comedians have done their own local directions with things like "about a half mile before the old johnson place" and "when you get to where the barn used to be" |
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Post by the light works on May 18, 2020 22:58:14 GMT
a thing I noticed in my own settings is that only the default language selection speaks street names.
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Post by GTCGreg on May 18, 2020 23:15:24 GMT
It seems true to the Sat-Nav we have in our car. I have seen in other forums that our road signage is a little bit clearer and more frequent so the Sat-Nav is acting more as a reminder than actually having to give you the route in full. But I don’t know how true that is. the degree to which US road signage is clear and comprehensible is definitely regional. I know that other than style, the signage I saw over there was very much like I'm used to here. what I didn't notice was that here, on freeways, the exits are numbered and the numbers match the mileage markers. and I didn't notice if that same pattern is followed over there. granted, I really didn't see something I would equate to our freeway system while I was there. (our freeways are like your dual carriageways, except they go continuously from beginning to end with only on and off ramps and no cross traffic at all. I.E. I could get on interstate five at the Canadian border and drive to the Mexican border with nary a roundabout or intersection.) Numbering interstate exits is a State by State thing. Most are the same as mile markers but some have no relation to miles at all. From what I understand Federal requirements for Interstate highways required all States to convert their exit numbers to correspond to mile markers but many States are still not in compliance. |
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Post by the light works on May 19, 2020 1:28:35 GMT
the degree to which US road signage is clear and comprehensible is definitely regional. I know that other than style, the signage I saw over there was very much like I'm used to here. what I didn't notice was that here, on freeways, the exits are numbered and the numbers match the mileage markers. and I didn't notice if that same pattern is followed over there. granted, I really didn't see something I would equate to our freeway system while I was there. (our freeways are like your dual carriageways, except they go continuously from beginning to end with only on and off ramps and no cross traffic at all. I.E. I could get on interstate five at the Canadian border and drive to the Mexican border with nary a roundabout or intersection.) Numbering interstate exits is a State by State thing. Most are the same as mile markers but some have no relation to miles at all. From what I understand Federal requirements for Interstate highways required all States to convert their exit numbers to correspond to mile markers but many States are still not in compliance. I know in 2001 California still didn't even have exit numbers. or mileposts. |
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