During the entire Terminator action movie series, the Terminator has been chasing humans, now it’s telling them where to go. Meet Waze’s latest celebrity navigation voice: The original Terminator, Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Starting Monday, drivers around the world could soon be directed by a familiar Austrian-accented voice telling them: “I’m a Terminator Cyberdyne Systems Model 101, and you’re coming with me.”
Venerable action star and former California Governator Schwarzenegger is lending his famous Terminator character to the crowd-sourced Waze navigation app to promote the release of his new movie Terminator Genisys, opening July 1st.
Celebrity voices for navigation are nothing new for Google-owned Waze, as they’ve used such recognizable voices as Terry Crews of TV’s Brooklyn Nine Nine to entice users to their app.
Schwarzenegger says the idea of his Terminator character being the voice of a navigation app is a bit ironic: “In 1984, when we did (the first) Terminator, we talked about the world being run by machines. It was science fiction then,” Schwarzenegger, 67, told USA TODAY. “Now you have machines telling you where to drive.”
It took a one-hour recording session for Arnold to record the required audio prompts for Waze. Schwarzenegger recorded everything from the usual “turn left, turn right” commands, all the way to “Hasta la vista, Baby” for when a journey reaches its destination.
Schwarzenegger is a fan of the app, saying: “Of course I’m going to use my voice, that’s a must. When I get into the car and a passenger sits there and all of a sudden you punch up the app and there’s me talking. Then they will go, ‘What the hell is going on in this car?’ It’s funny.”
The Terminator voice will last through mid-July. To activate The Terminator’s voice in the app, go to “Settings” -> “Sound,” and click on “English (US) –Terminator Genisys.” The app is free, and is available for iOS devices in the App Store. [GET IT HERE.]
