In-car assistants graduate from wake-up words to gestures and jokes

Virtual assistants have been lending a helping hand on mobile devices and in the home for some time, answering questions and carrying out tasks. From providing weather updates to adjusting the heating, a simple voice command can produce a vast range of responses. These helpful bots are now making their way into the vehicle, where, with some minor adaptations, they could rewrite the traditional rules of the human-machine interface (HMI).