Top of the Line
Ford incorporating more technology into vehicles
DEARBORN, Mich.—Automotive journalists discovered various ways Ford’s emerging technologies will meet consumer needs at the Product Development Center here recently.
For one, the award-winning Ford SYNC® AppLink™ software program is migrating to a new group of 2012 Ford vehicles, giving more vehicle owners the opportunity to enjoy intuitive voice control of and access to their smartphone apps on the go.
The 2012 Ford Fusion, Fusion Hybrid, Fiesta, F-150, F-150 SVT Raptor, Super Duty, Expedition, E-Series and Shelby GT500 join the previously announced 2012 Ford Mustang as AppLink-equipped vehicles.
The recently released J.D. Power and Associates U.S. Automotive Emerging Technologies Study reports 86 percent of smartphone owners indicate they use their device while in their vehicles. A Nationwide Mutual Insurance 2010 study indicates more than one in four Americans who download smartphone apps admit to using those apps while driving.
In late 2010, Ford began offering AppLink as a download on www.syncmyride.com, available exclusively to 2011 Ford Fiesta owners for popular mobile apps, such as Pandora® Internet radio, one of the top five most used apps across all four major smartphone platforms in the U.S., according to Nielsen.
These users will continue to have more to cheer about as additional SYNC-enabled apps go live, said Julius Marchwicki, Ford SYNC product manager.
Ford is also working with its voice technology partner and industry leader Nuance Communications to find a way to make voice recognition even easier and more intuitive for drivers to successfully use, especially first-timers.
With medical and healthcare apps the third fastest growing category of smartphone applications in 2010, Ford is developing voice-controlled, in-car connections to an array of health aids, including glucose monitoring devices, allergen alert solutions and heart monitoring seats.
Drivers with diabetes who wear a Bluetooth-enabled Medtronic continuous glucose-monitoring device could enter a Ford SYNC-equipped vehicle and pair the device, along with their cell phone, with SYNC to receive audible alerts about deviations in glucose levels.
The pollen system would monitor counts and potential allergens and offer healthy routes and the heart monitor would employ electrocardiograph technology through the driver’s clothing that monitors the heart’s electrical impulses and detects irregularity.
Also announced was expansion of its industry-first rear inflatable seat belts on the new Ford Explorer to the Flex and Lincoln vehicles set to arrive in dealer showrooms next summer.
“This advanced restraint system is designed to help reduce head, neck and chest injuries for rear seat passengers, often children and older passengers who can be more vulnerable to such injuries,” said Sue Cischke, Ford group vice president of sustainability, environment and safety engineering.
In the event of a frontal or side crash, the inflated belt helps distribute crash force energy across five times more of the occupant’s torso than a traditional belt. That expands its range of protection and helps reduce the risk of injury by diffusing crash pressure over a larger area, while providing additional support to the head and neck. After deployment, the belt remains inflated for several seconds before dispersing its air through the pores of the airbag.
Vehicle safety sensors determine the severity of the collision in the blink of an eye and deploy the inflatable belt’s airbag. Each belt’s tubular airbag inflates with cold compressed gas, which flows through a specially designed buckle from a cylinder housed below the seat.
Ford demonstrated its Intelligent Vehicle technology, that is, vehicles that can wirelessly talk to each other, warning of potential dangers to enhance safety and flag impending traffic congestion for more efficient driving. Intelligent vehicles could warn drivers if there is a risk of collision when changing lanes, approaching a stationary vehicle or if another driver loses control.
It’s like a vigilant passenger in the car with you who is always paying attention.
Ford will also bold and thicken characters on many interior controls across its lineup beginning with the Edge and Explorer next year, making it easier for people of all ages, particularly aging Baby Boomers, to read display fonts.
The letters and numbers that form words and convey other information on the center stack display on the next-generation vehicles will be slightly thicker, with an approximately 40 percent wider stroke width.
The key is to make the words and numbers a bit bolder, but not overwhelming, said research engineer Shannon O’Day.
“If you choose wisely, the legibility of even relatively small text can be a comfortable reading experience,” she said. “That is especially helpful for drivers on the move.”
O’Day authored “Legibility: Back to Basics,” a proprietary Ford study that indicates which fonts provide better legibility for drivers of all ages – looking particularly at the needs and limitations of older drivers. Interestingly, younger drivers experienced issues with many of the same fonts, albeit at a much lower rate.
The fonts that enabled the best performance – the lowest reading errors, the fastest reading time – had a subtle combination of characteristics: larger height, wider width and thinner stroke.
Ford is also paying attention to fuel economy. Forty-two percent of people surveyed say fuel economy is “extremely important” in their decision to purchase new models – a 13.5 percent increase versus 10 years ago. Thirty-seven percent indicated they expect fuel economy will have the “greatest impact” on their next new vehicle purchase.
In May, for the first time in decades, more than 55 percent of Ford F-150s sold were equipped with V6 rather than V8 engines.
— Mary Ann Van Osdell
Published in October 2011
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