Waze is rolling out voice-controlled Conversational Reporting of hazards
Navigation tools such as Waze and Google Maps not only help you find a route from A to B, but also provide information about road closure, vehicle breakdowns, police in the area, and hazards on the road. With this last item being reliant on reports from road users, Waze has been investigating ways to make do so easier.
When you spot a hazard on the road and want to warn others, you have had to wait until you are able to stop to do so (safely, at least). Now Waze is rolling out a feature called Conversational Reporting which lets you use your voice – and a dash of AI – to let other road users know about what you have spotted.
The feature has been a very long time coming; Waze first talked about Conversational Reporting almost a year ago. At the time the company had the following to say about it:
On Waze, you can already report a range of incidents, including traffic, potholes, construction and more. Now we’re introducing a new Conversational Reporting feature to make this safer and easier. Say you're cruising down the highway and spot a sudden slowdown. All you need to do is tap the reporting button and speak naturally, as if you’re chatting with a friend: “Looks like there are cars jammed up ahead!” With the help of Gemini capabilities, Waze will understand what you’re saying and quickly add a real-time report to the map for you — no need to use a specific voice command or tap extra buttons.
Waze will even ask you a follow-up question when it needs more information or details. If you let Waze know there’s something up ahead, it may ask “Can you describe what you see?” After sharing more information – like that you see a trash can on the road – Waze can categorize the report, helping other drivers be aware and avoid the hazard.
Having spent a good chunk of time in beta testing, Waze apparently now believes that Conversational Reporting is ready for everyone. 9to5 Google reports that Conversational Reporting has been spotted rolling out to non-beta testers.
Although nothing official has been announced since last October, it looks as though the option to use your voice to report road hazards is becoming generally available – although it is hard to say if the rollout is limited by language or country at this stage.
You can check out what the feature looks like and see how it works in this video from Waze: