One way to vent frustrations in traffic is to sing. If you’ve got a car full of people, then passing one of Samsung-owned Harmon’s microphones around for a spot of karaoke might keep everyone’s temper down. It could also result in a duet-inspired collision, so maybe the driver shouldn’t be participating.
Seriously, though. Harman has announced Sing Drive, a “new in-vehicle karaoke and sing-along platform designed to transform the car into a private, shared space for musical expression.” It’s better than simply singing along to whatever’s on your sound system because… um… AI?
Samsung’s Sing Drive
And it might well be, since the AI is used to “separate vocals from any song in real time,” according to Samsung’s subsidiary. In other words, any of your tracks can be sung along to. Hopefully the music industry is okay with that.
Handheld microphones are a future endeavour, though. For the time being, Harman envisions using in-cabin microphones to participate. That’s probably safer from the driver’s perspective. But it could be a while before Harman’s tech turns up in your car. It may be “production-ready,” but it’s still dependent on car brands installing it.
At least Harman has an existing base to work with. Mercedes, Volvo, BMW, Land Rover, Audi, and Jag all feature the company’s sound systems in some of their models. It’s not a stretch to think that Sing Drive will appear in one of these companies’ vehicles first. Our money is actually on Volvo making the first move, based on how keen the brand is to enhance its cabin software.
Or, as mentioned, you could just convince everyone in the car to sing louder than the lyrics of whatever happens to be playing. No installation or artificial intelligence needed. It wouldn’t be Sing Drive, but it’s available immediately. Plus, it’s free. Samsung’s company would probably prefer if you didn’t do that, however.
