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Something tells me that if Apple came out and said they were creationists, the Apple Apologists would be convinced Apple is correct and deny 99% of scientific consensus.

Especially if you read through these comments on this thread. The backpeddling and apologies are nearly hilarious at this point.

How many more times an we expect you to post variations on this exact same statement? I just want to know what to expect.
 
I would like to see the comparative results of:

Just driving (as a baseline they already show)
vs.
Having a conversation with a passenger in the car (which is not illegal)
Having a conversation with someone over bluetooth (which is not illegal)
Having a conversation with someone while holding a phone (which is illegal)


I find it hard to believe there is much of a difference in mental distraction between having a conversation with someone in the car vs. remotely...

I would then like these compared to interacting with Siri.
 
When 'hand-free' mics became good enough a few years ago, I scheduled daily conference calls with my business' while driving home.

Good use of time I thought, until I realized it was only a short matter of time before I'd have an accident.

when you are driving, just drive. dammit.
 
Not intuitive? That's the first time I've heard that complaint about Siri. There certainly are other valid ones, but basically, you tell her to do something and she does it. What would these people consider "intuitive"?
 
Hands-Free/Eyes-free interactions should be limited to answering phone calls or playing music.

If you want to type/read text messages or emails you should stop your car.
 
so all cars with voice recognition are highly mentally distracting? or having a discussion with others?

Drive by yourself without a radio or phone... problem solved

Actually, having a phone conversation even through bluetooth is much more distracting than having a discussion with someone in the car.

By nature, the person sitting next to you or even in the backseat is aware of what's around you, so they can 'pace' the discussion accordingly
 
Not even remotely surprised. I never bother using Siri, she's utter garbage. I'm not sure why I haven't turned her off entirely yet.

It'd be nice if there was a way to instruct Siri to send a voice recording instead of having to dictate a message to her... that would be less distracting.
 
It doesn't surprise me, you have to listen to her reaction, pay attention in order to either hear and understand her reaction and than often react to send a message for example.

It will get better.

It should once people get used to using hands free commands.

I bet you would get the same level of distraction regardless on the hand free system.
 
Because the TL;DR version posted on MR didn't see fit to print it. :rolleyes: If, heaven forbid, a person actually took the time to read the source material it would be readily apparent this isn't about Apple at all. It's about Hands-Free in general.

Sometimes it's not about the news you get, but where you get it.;)

To answer your question directly: Excerpted from the source material

To assess “real-world” impact, Dr. Joel Cooper with Precision Driving Research evaluated the two most common voice-based interactions in which drivers engage – changing radio stations and voice dialing – with the actual voice-activated systems found in six different automakers’ vehicles. On the five point scale, Toyota’s Entune® system garnered the lowest cognitive distraction ranking (at 1.7), which is similar to listening to an audio book. In comparison, the Chevrolet MyLink® resulted in a high level of cognitive distraction (rating of 3.7). Other systems tested included the Hyundai Blue Link (rating 2.2), the Chrysler Uconnect™ (rating 2.7), Ford SYNC with MyFord Touch® (rating 3.0) and the Mercedes COMAND® (rating 3.1).[/I]

I'm not picking on you, but it's a common refrain on MR to deflect by saying "but what about company x" instead of addressing the topic of the post. All of the silliness posted by other individuals could have been avoided by simply perusing the source material. I think MR sometimes edits info for clicks instead of facts.

If you look at the actual study [PDF], you'll find that the test of automakers' voice recognition systems was conducted in a completely separate study, which did not test Siri.

In this study, they tested Siri performing complex tasks versus human researchers performing simple tasks.
 
"Hey Siri" Wise Up!

I had high hopes for the "Hey Siri" feature. Unfortunately, "Hey Siri" seems dumber than "Siri." Most often, voice response stops after the first question. This means users must still press the button to resolve the inevitable "I don't understand." Trying to reactivate by saying "Hey Siri" again, returns the response, "I don't understand 'Hey Siri.'"

One of the most annoying things either Siri does is tell you, "I have found these items on the Web." What good is that while you're driving?
 
I would like to see the comparative results of:

Just driving (as a baseline they already show)
vs.
Having a conversation with a passenger in the car (which is not illegal)
Having a conversation with someone over bluetooth (which is not illegal)
Having a conversation with someone while holding a phone (which is illegal)

I find it hard to believe there is much of a difference in mental distraction between having a conversation with someone in the car vs. remotely...

I would then like these compared to interacting with Siri.

Interesting you mention that.. I've seen studies addressing only to in-car passenger conversation compared to conversations over phone. Results were really cool - The distraction level while speaking to someone on a phone (in-hands or hands-free didn't make much difference) was high, whilst in-car conversations with a passenger were at normal baseline level..

Why? The authors of the study concluded that people in the car would pause and otherwise adjust there conversation content and pace, based on the traffic conditions surrounding the car.

For example, when a congested merge was approaching, the passenger would pause. Person on the phone would be just as likely ask a highly involving question at that moment.
 
How come driving only, still rates a small level of mental distraction. Does that mean that driving can distract you from driving? I don't get it.
 
Maybe it is distracting but it's a million times safer than what I see every day on my commute.

Most people have got the message (here in the UK) that it is against the law to have a phone to your ear making a call so what do they do? They send texts/ emails or check their Facebook status instead! I see it everyday and a LOT of drivers do it - oh they think they are being discreet but it is blindingly obvious what they are doing.

I hit slow moving traffic every day for about 10 minutes or so and I can particularly guarantee that about 50% of women drivers under the age of 30 will have their hands and eyes on their phone.
 
It depends on what you mean with "listening". If you are actively thinking about it then it's dangerous. If it's a background noise so that you don't even acknowledge listening, then the distraction is as minimal as an engine humming.

True. Many of us are not really actively thinking about the music we are listening to or the lighthearted chatter of the person in the passenger seat. Now, if they tried to have a serious conversation with you, perhaps something emotionally-driven, it can be a huge distraction. But with Siri, you always have to be thinking about what you are saying and the feedback you get.
 
Interesting you mention that.. I've seen studies addressing only to in-car passenger conversation compared to conversations over phone. Results were really cool - The distraction level while speaking to someone on a phone (in-hands or hands-free didn't make much difference) was high, whilst in-car conversations with a passenger were at normal baseline level..

Why? The authors of the study concluded that people in the car would pause and otherwise adjust there conversation content and pace, based on the traffic conditions surrounding the car.

For example, when a congested merge was approaching, the passenger would pause. Person on the phone would be just as likely ask a highly involving question at that moment.


Makes sense for the most part, I still always forget to get off on my exit when I'm having a conversation in the car lol.
 
Most people have got the message (here in the UK) that it is against the law to have a phone to your ear making a call so what do they do? They send texts/ emails or check their Facebook status instead!

Yep. Talking with phone to ear is illegal, thus forcing people to out phone down next to lap and text.
 
This study really only speaks about those 45 folks. Not the other millions out there. And as they were on iOS 7 who knows what the results would be like with things like "hey Siri" in place
 
Any studies...

Are there any studies that actually look at real world situations/distractions?

Passengers? (especially kids)
Tailgaters?
People in front of you refusing to do anything close to the speed limit?

I've found all these situations to be much more stressful/distracting than any of the horrifying (oh my God think of the CHILDREN! There ought to be A LAW!!!) distractions being studied recently.

The photo shown.. I'd be pretty f'in distracted by that thing on my head, just for starters...

Rather than nit pick over what things may distract one person or another, why not focus more energy on training people to be BETTER ***** DRIVERS????

Why not have more driver training? Why not work to expand local and national teen driving clinics, like local sherif's department teen driving clinics, or the SCCA/BMWCC/Tire Rack Street Survival Clinics? Why not add a practical/behind the wheel element to the AARP classes similar to what the teen driving clinics offer?


Sigh.


And reading this study, (it didn't take me long to find an issue) it seems to have been stacked against Siri... "using “hands-free” Siri to listen to and send text messages, update Facebook or Twitter status, and modify and review calendar appointments" .... Siri was only used for these tasks... Not music, not phone calls... Meanwhile, none of the other distractions involved twitter, Facebook, or calendar appointments... This would seem to skew the study a bit. Shouldn't they have tested Siri only for each of the tasks tested with other means?


Shrug.
 
siri is great for some things, not so great for others. but still quite useful.
sending texts with siri works great in my opinion.
i asked for baseball stats for jackie robinson and got a list of 60 players wit the last name robinson but none named jackie!!
if i ask for a current players stats it works more than 50% of the time.
i asked for driving directios to the nearest get-go it brought up 2 asked if i wanted the 1st one i said the simplest of words, no. it didn't understand my reply, even though it wrote it on the screen!!!
 
But is it an improvement over someone manually doing the task on their phone? Isn't that what it should be compared too?

That's a good question, but the problem addressed by studies like this is one of perception. Many people still believe that the problem with cell phones and driving is the required physical interaction. They need to understand that the distraction is mostly cognitive rather than physical.
 
It's ridiculous for people to be updating FB, etc. while driving. I don't check texts unless I'm stopped at a light. When the light changes, phone goes back on the console and I don't touch it again until I'm stopped.

I use Siri to find directions, or perhaps send a quick text like "i'll be home in 10 minutes" but other than that, I just drive.
 
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