Ford is bringing in a lab that could bring in the Apple Watch and the Fitbit to your car. The car maker is opening an Automotive Wearables Experience Laboratory in the town of Dearborn, Michigan. Researchers at the car maker are digging deep into the nature of wearables and wearable technology.
Ford Encourages Even Smarter Cars
Ford researchers are putting their all into finding new ways to enhance the driving experiences. The goal is to find ways to make the relationship between drivers and their cars better and more efficient, ultimately more seamless.
The Car Maker Is Making Full Use of Biometric Information
Wearables integrated into cars use biometric information. How is this relevant? This kind of technology would let accurate biometric data to be transferred, and would also make way for active driver-assist systems. It will make cars more sensitive to the driver’s condition.
This means that if you’re running low on sleep or high on stress, your car can give you a helping hand.
Imagine Your Car Pairing to Your Apple Watch or Fitbit
This is much like what a Fitbit or the Apple Watch could do for your body. Instead of being around your wrist, it would be at the wheel of the car or on a seat. The Fitbit could even work seamlessly with a car, and give it a live feed of the driver’s condition.
The car maker’s wearable lab is already testing smartwatch compatibility. They are also testing voice control, compatibility with augmented reality. This is only the beginning for the lab, as they hope to accomplish some great things in the coming years.
Ford Recently Partnered Up with Google
This lab might as well benefit from the recent but unconfirmed partnership between Ford and Google. There has been very little said about this partnership.
Google doesn’t have excellent history when it comes to wearables, with the half-assed success of the Google Glass. But the company is rumored to be working on a second iteration of the wearable. What’s more, there’s buzz saying there may even be a sports version of the device.
Ford had very poor sales in 2015, so they will greatly benefit from this partnership. The car maker could have a pretty good 2016 if the lab integrates software and hardware into their future models.
