Ford Is Working On Wearables Apps That Will Keep Drivers Safe

Doctors can do extensive analysis of your body based on their medical knowledge, recommendations and treatments when needed. But you don’t count on them to keep watch on you every day; you just go there when you’re in distress. In the rest of the time, you can count on wearables to monitor your activity. Wristbands, earbuds, bracelets, even shirts can tell your heart rate in real time, calories burned and more. So, why not use them when you’re on the road?! Ford believes they can keep you and other drivers safe by sending alerts when your body is about to fail you #automagic

The American car maker has recently opened an Automotive Wearables Experience Lab in its Michigan Research and Innovation Center. The idea is to explore more options when it comes to driver experience. The company believes the way to keep people in check behind the wheel is to grant them control over their lives, while being completely aware of their health state. In other words, if you will be the one to see that your body is in no condition to drive, you’re going to think twice before taking your car anywhere. It’s the difference between being told to do something and taking a conscious decision you have to do that thing.

The company will rely on smartwatch sensors to track relevant biometrics to driving and not only give you the choice to stay away from the wheel, but learn from them and improve semi-autonomous driving features in response. More than that, Ford has issued an ‘app developer challenge’ for their employees in order to make wearable apps more helpful in delivering car health metrics.

Another idea is to add voice control to the MyFord Mobile smartwatch app. This would allow users to lock/unlock doors, start the engine and also pave a way for more safe driving tools.