Safe food ordering by voice while driving
Techniques for safe food ordering by voice while driving are described. A customer driving a vehicle decides to order food from a restaurant. The customer launches a food-ordering app on the customer's smartphone. The app detects that the vehicle is moving, disables manual input into the smartphone, and connects to a terminal at a call center. A customer service representative (“CSR”) at the call center communicates with the customer using spoken language to obtain the details of the food order, enters the food order into an ordering system, and transmits the food order via the ordering system to the restaurant for fulfillment. Finally, the customer picks up the ordered food at the restaurant, possibly using a drive-thru window at the restaurant. Thus, the customer is able to complete an order for food without having to stop driving and without averting their eyes from the road.
1. A method of communicating a food order while a customer is driving a vehicle, the method comprising:
using one or more computer processors of a communications device:
creating a graphical user interface (GUI) that is output to a display of the communications device;
receiving a manual input from an input device, the input relating to one or more GUI elements of the GUI, the input indicating partial information about a food order;
monitoring a speed of the communication device calculated based upon received data from one of an accelerometer or a global positioning system receiver of the communication device;
responsive to a determination that the speed of the communications device is above a specified speed threshold:
disabling input from the input device and entering a voice input mode;
initiating, using communications circuitry of the communications device, a wireless data connection, over a computer network, between the communications device and a remote communications device at a remote order facilitation system;
transmitting, using the wireless data connection, data generated based upon the input received before the input from the input device was disabled, the data conveying a portion of the food order to the remote communications device;
receiving, at a microphone of the communications device, voice input corresponding to a second portion of the food order to be fulfilled by a restaurant;
converting the voice input into one or more data packets;
transmitting, via the wireless data connection, the data packets to the remote communications device at the remote order facilitation system to send the second portion of the food order;
upon completion of the food order, receiving, from the remote communications device via the wireless data connection, an indication that the food order was successfully received by the remote communications device; and
generating an indication that the food order is being processed to be fulfilled at the restaurant.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the restaurant is a restaurant chosen by a user from the GUI.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the voice input corresponding to the second portion of the food order includes an indication for payment of the food order through at least one payment service.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the at least one payment service is a credit card.
5. The method of claim 3 , wherein the at least one payment service is a stored-value account.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the indication that the food order is being processed is an audio indication generated at a speaker.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein converting the voice input into one or more data packets comprises utilizing speech recognition software to convert the voice input corresponding to the food order into text corresponding to the voice input, and inserting the text into one or more data packets.
8. A communication device for communicating a food order while a customer is driving a vehicle, the communication device comprising:
a computer processor;
a memory, comprising instructions, which when executed by the computer processor, causes the computer processor to perform operations comprising:
creating a graphical user interface (GUI) that is output to a display of the communications device;
receiving a manual input from an input device, the input relating to one or more GUI elements of the GUI, the input indicating partial information about a food order;
monitoring a speed of the communication device calculated based upon received data from one of an accelerometer or a global positioning system receiver of the communication device;
responsive to a determination that the speed of the communications device is above a specified speed threshold:
disabling input from the input device and entering a voice input mode;
initiating, using communications circuitry of the communications device, a wireless data connection, over a computer network, between the communications device and a remote communications device at a remote order facilitation system;
transmitting, using the wireless data connection, data generated based upon the input received before the input from the input device was disabled, the data conveying a portion of the food order to the remote communications device;
receiving, at a microphone of the communications device, voice input corresponding to a second portion of the food order to be fulfilled by a restaurant;
converting the voice input into one or more data packets;
transmitting, via the wireless data connection, the data packets to the remote communications device at the remote order facilitation system to send the second portion of the food order;
upon completion of the food order, receiving, from the remote communications device via the wireless data connection, an indication that the food order was successfully received by the remote communications device; and
generating an indication that the food order is being processed to be fulfilled at the restaurant.
9. The device of claim 8 , wherein the restaurant is a restaurant chosen by a user from the GUI.
10. The device of claim 8 , wherein the voice input corresponding to the second portion of the food order includes an indication for payment of the food order through at least one payment service.
11. The device of claim 10 , wherein the at least one payment service is a credit card.
12. The device of claim 10 , wherein the at least one payment service is a stored-value account.
13. The device of claim 8 , wherein the indication that the food order is being processed is an audio indication generated at a speaker.
14. The device of claim 8 , wherein the operations of converting the voice input into one or more data packets comprises operations of utilizing speech recognition software to convert the voice input corresponding to the food order into text corresponding to the voice input, and inserting the text into one or more data packets.
15. A non-transitory machine-readable medium comprising instructions, which when executed by a communication device, causes the communication device to perform operations comprising:
creating a graphical user interface (GUI) that is output to a display of the communications device;
receiving a manual input from an input device, the input relating to one or more GUI elements of the GUI, the input indicating partial information about a food order;
monitoring a speed of the communication device calculated based upon received data from one of an accelerometer or a global positioning system receiver of the communication device;
responsive to a determination that the speed of the communications device is above a specified speed threshold:
disabling input from the input device and entering a voice input mode;
Initiating, using communications circuitry of the communications device, a wireless data connection, over a computer network, between the communications device and a remote communications device at a remote order facilitation system;
transmitting, using the wireless data connection, data generated based upon the input received before the input from the input device was disabled, the data conveying a portion of the food order to the remote communications device;
receiving, at a microphone of the communications device, voice input corresponding to a second portion of the food order to be fulfilled by a restaurant;
converting the voice input into one or more data packets;
transmitting, via the wireless data connection, the data packets to the remote communications device at the remote order facilitation system to send the second portion of the food order;
upon completion of the food order, receiving, from the remote communications device via the wireless data connection, an indication that the food order was successfully received by the remote communications device; and
generating an indication that the food order is being processed to be fulfilled at a restaurant.
16. The machine-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the restaurant is a restaurant chosen by a user from the GUI.
17. The machine-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the voice input corresponding to the second portion of the food order includes an indication for payment of the food order through at least one payment service.
18. The machine-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the at least one payment service is a credit card.
19. The machine-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the at least one payment service is a stored-value account.
20. The machine-readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the indication that the food order is being processed is an audio indication generated at the speaker.