With the increasing prevalence of smart cockpits, vehicles are becoming highly integrated systems incorporating multimedia playback, real-time navigation, voice interaction, and vehicle control. While in-car voice assistants effectively prevent driver distraction, the integration of numerous functions also introduces potential issues that can negatively impact user experience or even lead to safety concerns.
Customer Challenges and Issues
Most automakers typically conduct comprehensive testing for innovative smart cockpits during the vehicle development phase. However, in this particular case, our client encountered problems during this stage
Client Situation Description:：
Despite having confirmed the quality and functionality of their in-car voice assistant during internal development, the automaker received numerous consumer complaints after the product launch. Customers reported issues with voice recognition, such as misinterpreting commands, misunderstanding, or inconsistent performance. This led to additional time and effort spent by the automaker’s customer service center communicating with vehicle owners to clarify complaints. Moreover, the automaker’s quality control department struggled to replicate these issues due to limited information provided by customer service.
After taking on this case, Allion immediately interviewed the client and learned that due to constraints in manpower, expertise, and timelines, they had only conducted simple manual testing. They urgently needed to address the following issues:
- Lack of a rigorously controlled voice testing environment, making it difficult to produce consistent test results and replicate issues.
- Insufficient coverage of various application scenarios and variables for the in-car voice assistant, leaving potential problems unaddressed.
- Inability of manual verification to handle long-term, repetitive testing, leading to insufficient testing intensity and confidence in results.
- Lack of in-depth problem analysis capabilities, preventing the quick and effective resolution of issues.
Solution
Product Quality Verification Plan Development and Execution
To address these challenges, Allion’s consulting team developed a comprehensive verification plan, which included:
- Distance between the speaker and the car’s microphone.
- Angle between the speaker and the car’s microphone.
- Ambient noise while driving.
- A robust voice database.
By simulating various real-life scenarios that drivers might encounter and using Allion’s voice assistant solution, we employed AI automation to conduct long-duration continuous tests, which are beyond the capability of manual testing. This ensured consistent product quality and continuous monitoring of test results.
Allion’s consulting team understands that consumers are particularly concerned about the performance of voice assistant products in terms of compatibility, recognition, and functionality. Therefore, we provided the client with customized professional planning, equipment, and solutions to help you develop and execute the product quality verification plan.
Implementation Benefits: Significant Improvement in Voice Recognition, Success Rate Increased to 99.6%
Allion’s automotive voice assistant solution can automatically generate reports and log issues when they occur, helping to identify conditions and causes. For example, different driving speeds, varying air conditioning levels, and different levels of in-car noise were all factors considered. These solutions not only helped the client resolve problems and significantly reduce maintenance costs but also dramatically lowered customer complaint handling costs.
Through Allion’s solution, we identified the scenarios and causes of the voice recognition issues. For instance, when the air conditioning is set to a certain high level, voice commands issued from a specific angle in the driver’s seat had a lower recognition success rate! Once the root cause was identified, the client quickly implemented a solution, and after Allion’s final verification, the voice recognition success rate for that position improved from 93.8% to 99.6%.！
Learn More: In-Car Voice Assistant Consulting
Time to Market with Quality! Allion Builds the Path to Success for Your Products
In addition to the solutions mentioned above, Allion can also provide faster, easier, and better testing and consulting services tailored to the needs of different industries and clients, helping your product succeed.
Faster
With industry-leading high-frequency and high-speed measurement capabilities, Allion can provide testing solutions based on your product specifications and application scenarios at any stage of development, helping you significantly shorten your product testing cycle
Easier
By incorporating AI and automation solutions, Allion ensures that each test is “qualitative, quantitative, and reproducible,” helping clients quickly identify core issues and providing solution recommendations to enhance product performance.
Better
Allion has over 30 years of project experience, a professional technical team, and a fully equipped testing environment with advanced instruments. Leveraging our rich experience in user scenario testing, we are dedicated to providing our clients with comprehensive, high-quality services.
If you have any needs for testing, verification, or consulting services, feel free to contact us through the online form. Allion consulting team is always ready to create customized solutions for you, ensuring your products meet the goal of “Time to Market with Quality” as scheduled!
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