Coming Soon: A Honda That Gives Directions

Can’t find a restaurant? Running out of gas? Down to your last dollar?

Tell it to the car.

IBM Corp. is expected today to sign a deal with Honda Motor Co. that would make it easier for drivers to find the closest gas station or restaurant by asking the car’s computer for help.

IBM said Honda will offer in its 2003 Accord models, for sale in September, a navigation system that is integrated with voice recognition software and a small touch screen.

The voice recognition system works by touching a button on the steering wheel and then speaking aloud. The software then responds, using the car’s audio system to give driving directions.

The voice recognition software, based on IBM’s ViaVoice product, understands different speech accents and has a larger vocabulary, according to Raj Desai, IBM’s director of automotive and telematics solutions.

“It’s closer to the natural ability to have a dialogue, rather than just remembering key words, which is what the previous-generation systems had,” Desai said.

Companies including DaimlerChrysler have been building cars with voice recognition and other wireless communications-based services for years, but it was still not clear if there is a market for the technology, called telematics.

Ford Motor Co., for instance, pulled the plug on its 18-month-old telematics venture Wingcast in June. General Motors Corp. has the largest telecommunications service system, called OnStar.

IBM said price information on the system was not available.