Lionel announces voice control of trains!

Marx had it in 1937

I’ll wait to pass judgement. I am more of a hands on operator. I applaud Lionel for innovating though.  

Interesting advance, it isn't earthshaking technology (voice recognition is pretty mature at this point), but it can be a boon for those who might find using a smart phone or table difficult (disabled, arthritis) or even or young kids who will be delighted to 'tell' a train what to do. It will be interesting to see how this works, in terms of commands it understands, will it be rigid ie you have to say "Engine 1, open coupler" or is it more flexible, could you if you wanted call it out by a programmed train number  like "Extra 644, proceed" or "Train 9455, slow to 10 MPH" (I doubt they will go that far, but it is technically feasible)

Not too excited about it myself but I'm very excited for how many people will be open doors for!

Then again, I didn't think I would love command control as much as I do so we'll have to see.

When the Star Trek set recognizes the command "Engage" and the diner responds to "Tea, Earl Grey, Hot",  Marty will be very happy.

"Oh $%!^ !!!"

"I'm sorry, but this engine does not have that function."  

More seriously: Doesn't hurt anything, but I'm not personally likely to be interested, since I'm not big on using apps for trains when not needed.  I've tried one of my engines I think just to see if the Bluetooth and app control worked.  That was the last time I tried it, I think.  I've probably bought a few BT enabled engines since then, and I have no clue if the BT works or not.

My big "like" recently was with LC 2.0 being able to be controlled via TMCC commands from either CAB-1 or CAB-2.  That is the "big win" for eliminating the need to use the a LC controller (either the ones specific to each engine, or the 3 engine capabability one) that is a keeper, IMO.  I hope they keep that and don't ever eliminate it in favor of app related functionality.

-Dave

Looks like I'll have to put a Bluetooth device in one of my Marx towers!

I'll take the 1937 Marx version... only because it has the cool tower to speak into!

I feel like some of us were chided a bit when we suggested something like "Alexa, Run Cab # 2174 at 30 mph"

Looks like someone is listening...

J

Well, we all know how well voice commands worked out...

Rusty

I'm not even into Blue tooth, but I can foresee problems with this.

John (Fake name ) "engine 2123 forward at 30 miles per hour " at the same time

Dave says " engine 2133 reverse at 30 MPH"

result engine 2123 hears reverse at 30 MPH and runs into a train behind it. While engine 2133 hears forward at 30 MPH and jumps a switch and sparks go everywhere. 

Interesting. Ever put an address in your car and have it not work? Ever go out for dinner at a restaurant (that was SO long ago) and ask Siri where you could get a cup of coffee? It was never where you were having dinner. And all the restaurants had coffee.

I attribute these actions to the fact that I was talking to women and women never listen to me. I hope Lionel's train is a male.

Gerry

As I sit here, with a 3 year old, an Alexa, and said 3 year old doing his best to send a Lionel Percy through the wall, this is not a feature you want a kid to know. The commands will come faster than any processor can handle, in some form of english that a machine cannot understand. Unless it understands 4 letter words from Dad without having to push a button and immediately shuts the power off, its as good as useless. Now that I think of it... "Alexa turn off the train" might be the upgrade my christmas tree needs this year.

Think of the advantages for those who have severe neurologic diseases, quadriplegia, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's disease), severe Parkinson's, etc. and cannot perform fine motor functions with their hands. Not a huge number of people, but for those with these challenges, this could be a genuine advance and make the hobby possible.

I like the idea, let's see how it plays out!!

It was fun watching the show and how each manufacturer was introducing a boxcar, or a locomotive, or a cab "both with rivets and the welded kind!"  And Lionel nonchalantly says: "we'll be making our new trains to be voice-activated if you so choose... and oh yeah, it'll be backwards compatible to 2017."

Jon

@Boilermaker1 posted:

As I sit here, with a 3 year old, an Alexa, and said 3 year old doing his best to send a Lionel Percy through the wall, this is not a feature you want a kid to know. The commands will come faster than any processor can handle, in some form of english that a machine cannot understand. Unless it understands 4 letter words from Dad without having to push a button and immediately shuts the power off, its as good as useless. Now that I think of it... "Alexa turn off the train" might be the upgrade my christmas tree needs this year.

The good new is it has to be enabled in the app so it doesn't have to be used.  That is always a nice feature.

I'm Sorry Dave,  I'm  afraid O can't do that.

I've been giving voice commands to my locos for decades - they never listened, though.

Brendan

I think technology advances are a good thing, I'm just having trouble envisioning how I would use voice control.  I know I don't want to be announcing when the whistle is going to blow !!  Given the complexity of Legacy, I think it might be more useful there.

@KOOLjock1 posted:

And Lionel nonchalantly says: "we'll be making our new trains to be voice-activated if you so choose... and oh yeah, it'll be backwards compatible to 2017."

Jon

Even more than that: With Lionel's LionChief universal remote acting as a Bluetooth hotspot, the LionChief App can control any LionChief or LionChief Plus engine ever made; the same will be true of Lionel Voice Control, as an optional feature within the LionChief App.

I’m not interested in going to my basement and talking to my trains. That may just send me over the edge.

Maybe it's my relatively short 24+ years of O-gauge experience from conventional to command control affecting my opinion, but I just don't find the "voice-control" feature appealing.  However, I also don't utilize any google/android, Amazon-Alexa or Apple-Siri voice tech (all disabled).  I agree w/ @Landsteiner that voice control could benefit those who have physical impairments, but based on the some of the reported performance drop-offs of those aforementioned "smart" devices I would be concerned that the train control voice technology to accurately recognize commands could be problematic and result in more frustration than enjoyment.

Aside from the obvious aid to those w/ physical disabilities the more and more automation or voice-controlled examples I see advertised (i.e. Alexa/Siri/Google, ...start my car; ...raise the window blinds; ...turn on the coffee; ...is my garage door open? etc. and you can throw in such things as "auto-sensing windshield wipers") the more I find myself questioning why is this necessary or needed.  Possibly it's just how I'm interpreting the particular commercial - "is this the latest gimmic trend?", "how lazy (...or fill in the blank) can these people be?" or "why make a simple task more complicated, more expensive and prone to failure?"

In the past 3 years, I've enjoyed my PS2&PS3, TMCC and Legacy items, but found more overall model railroading enjoyment from operating and tinkering with pre-war/postwar/modern conventional items.  I guess I'm officially on the down-side of middle-age.  _{Now get off my lawn!}

My article "The ABC's of Wireless Train Control" in the April 2018 issue of OGRR magazine (Run 298)  stated in the last paragraph: For the future, perhaps voice-actuated train control systems will be announced, adding an entirely new dimension to model railroad control. Don't be too terribly surprised to see it happen!

oh that is awesome

another inovation i've always wanted

i hope its like this in my future - "hotwheels 2018 clear to move forward at 35 percent throttle  and stop at switch to let CSX Tier 4 3219 to pass with the fast freight.

pennsy 5511 your clear with the battleship to the exploding ammo dump on track 3 " and so on

what timestamp did you hear the info?

@paigetrain posted:

what timestamp did you hear the info?

46:35

Thanks, but no thanks.

Pat

I can't wait for my trains to tell me I'm spending too much time in the basement and not enough with my wife and family.

Grand kids are going to love it. Grandson loves running his train with his phone.Sure this will make it more fun for them.

Im older and embrace technology. I think this will be great for those who would use it. Just think of it the same as a smoke unit. Some use it and some wont. No need to be negative about it. Innovation fuels progress and I am sure Lionel is looking to try to bring new thoughts into the hobby. New thoughts, different demographic. Harley Davidson made the mistake of thinking they had to cater to the old established hard core biker by not changing. They almost went under.   

I would have rather had the sound from the engines be able to transmit over a BT speaker myself.  That being said at first I was opposed to this but since there is an enable/disable button then more power to it.  Just don't use it as an excuse to raise prices. 

I'd rather have a customer service dept that answers the phone.

I really don't even use the BT function now... well, except to mess with my buddies at the club and shut off their engines unexpectedly.  Pandemonium ensues while they work the "problem"!    

My question is this:  If the sound is way up and the track is noisy, how is the engine going to "hear" the command over the din?  

@third rail posted:

I can't wait for my trains to tell me I'm spending too much time in the basement and not enough with my wife and family.

Plus the "too much money spent".

I watched the recording last night,  very interesting.  I love Howard Hitchcock's thoughts on the way to keep this hobby going is to get the younger generations involved and keep them involved, they are very much into apps and mobile devices.  I can see at some point the LionChief app will replace the Legacy handheld.  It just makes sense financially, it's cheaper to build and upgrade an app vs a cab 1 or cab2.    Before everyone starts yelling "out my cold dead hands" relax,  I didn't say it would be next year, but if you look at where we were a few years ago to where we are now, you can see it will happen eventually.  

@Volphin posted:

My question is this:  If the sound is way up and the track is noisy, how is the engine going to "hear" the command over the din?  

The phone picks up your voice, not the engine.

Brendan

@Casey_Jones posted:

I can see at some point the LionChief app will replace the Legacy handheld.  It just makes sense financially, it's cheaper to build and upgrade an app vs a cab 1 or cab2.    Before everyone starts yelling "out my cold dead hands" relax,  I didn't say it would be next year, but if you look at where we were a few years ago to where we are now, you can see it will happen eventually.  

While an app may replace Legacy, it definitely has a long way to go to get all the functionality that the Legacy remote has.  It most likely will be a WiFi app that replaces the Legacy remote and not the BT app.

I see many folks talking to their devices, now.  Even at the train club (implying more mature audiences!)  The devices do a very good job at understanding you.

Brendan

@MartyE posted:

While an app may replace Legacy, it definitely has a long way to go to get all the functionality that the Legacy remote has.  It most likely will be a WiFi app that replaces the Legacy remote and not the BT app.

They do seem to be converging.  Maybe once every loco can be controlled by either system, they'll see a decline in sales of legacy systems or universal remotes and make a call.  I really wish they had DCC in that mix.

Brendan