Ford is looking to rethink the way a car keeps you safe by taking a cue from smartphone technology. We're not talking self-driving or self-parking vehicles here, but rather cars that talk to one another, and then let you, the driver, know what's what.
With the same technology that lets your smartphone connect you to pretty much whatever in the world around you, Ford is looking to include GPS and Wi-Fi to allow its vehicles to see one another on the road. That means if another automobile rolled up into your blindspot, say, right when you were about to merge into that lane, your car could warn you with visual cues on the windshield and a series of warning beeps.
It may not sound like much, but think about it. Right now, cars do talk to other drivers: when a car ahead of you hits the brakes, its lights tell you what the driver is doing. That signal is only good if you're actually looking around that area, however. An "intelligent" car would be able to warn you that the vehicle several cars ahead of you is abruptly braking and to watch out for it.
Really, it's about time cars got a little smarter about this stuff. As Ford itself points out in the video below, it's the same kind of technology that goes into a smartphone — so why not something like a car?
Via Ford
With the same technology that lets your smartphone connect you to pretty much whatever in the world around you, Ford is looking to include GPS and Wi-Fi to allow its vehicles to see one another on the road. That means if another automobile rolled up into your blindspot, say, right when you were about to merge into that lane, your car could warn you with visual cues on the windshield and a series of warning beeps.
It may not sound like much, but think about it. Right now, cars do talk to other drivers: when a car ahead of you hits the brakes, its lights tell you what the driver is doing. That signal is only good if you're actually looking around that area, however. An "intelligent" car would be able to warn you that the vehicle several cars ahead of you is abruptly braking and to watch out for it.
Really, it's about time cars got a little smarter about this stuff. As Ford itself points out in the video below, it's the same kind of technology that goes into a smartphone — so why not something like a car?
Via Ford
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