While almost every sci-fi epic has us navigating our way around the galaxy by voice command, the reality of controlling computers by voice has been a bit less impressive. It’s not that it can’t be done, it’s that there are inevitably errors. When your iPhone turns “Call Bonnie Smith Home” into “Calling Ronnie Schmidt Home” before you stamp the “end call” button, that’s not such a big deal. Having your GPS misunderstand where you want to go would be something else entirely.
However, the right combination of improvements in voice-recognition technology and a few focused voice-control commands make the VoiceFlight VFS101 system a success. That concept of a few, focused commands is important. For voice control to be worth the trouble it has to save you time or reduce your workload in a measurable way. VoiceFlight does both for users of the Garmin GNS 430/530.