Toyota announced an enhanced relationship with Microsoft on Monday aimed at delivering “connected car” services to drivers in ways they probably never could have imagined.
For instance, artificial-intelligence features could be added to cars that allow them to know where the car is going and offer services drivers might want along the way. Going to the baseball game this weekend? The car might detect the route a driver normally takes and recommend restaurants for a pre-game lunch.
Toyota Connected, as the partnership will be known, “will help free our customers from the tyranny of technology. It will make lives easier and help us to return to our humanity,” said Zack Hicks, the chief information officer of Toyota Motor North America who was appointed CEO of Toyota Connected.
Already, drivers ask the infotainment system in their cars for restaurant recommendations, but many locations often would require that a driver turn around. But with Toyota Connected, the system might be modified to only recommend restaurants on the highway ahead — and then only the kinds of food that the driver usually prefers.
The services offered can be tailored to individual customers. “We don’t want to dump everything on everyone,” said Sandy Lobenstein, executive vice president of Toyota Connected. “The whole is idea is getting to know our customers better.”
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SOURCE: USA Today
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