Toyota Prius navigation screen
The Toyota Prius never fails to amaze people. Most want to see it operate in all-electric mode, or to watch the power-shift display as the engine switches on and off, the battery charges and discharges, and the electric motors use or send power in several different directions.
But as author, entrepreneur, and speaker Dayna Steele, of Seabrook, Texas, reminds us, the Prius has lots of other tricks up its sleeve. Her family's favorite? "When the navigation system is on the map screen, if you press voice command and say the words, 'I’m hungry,' all the nearby restaurant icons pop up!"
A friend of Steele's was part of the rollout for the 2004 model, and said that nav-system engineers added the hungry command for fun. It got mentioned quite a lot in media coverage of the launch.
Her sons--Dack is the older, Nick is the younger--call the voice in their Prius "Lola". Steele says, "They're always trying other ones--'I’m stupid,' 'I’m sleepy,' et cetera--but none of those work. 'I'm hungry' is the only one!"
Steele and her family are so fond of their Prius that they even sent us a picture. Thanks, Dayna!
Sons Dack and Nick with the Dayna Steele family Prius
