Friday, May 27, 2011

[advanced] Ford's Future Models Might Track Your Heart Rate

We always say that the vehicles of the future will be a lot smarter than the vehicles running currently on the streets, and to give a glimpse of it Ford already has started showing some new technologies that they will be incorporating in their future vehicles. Recently Ford developed a heart monitoring seat, which has the capacity of monitoring the heart activity of the driver. This initiative from Ford will be making the modern trucks and cars rolling medical devices.



Just a week ago, we saw a Sync system from the Dearborn automaker, which was developed to help drivers in managing their asthma and probably even will help in tough tasks such as quitting smoking in the future.
Speaking at the event, a Ford Spokesman said, “The Company is not trying to turn the vehicle into a medical device. We just are trying to make the healthcare mobile.”

Ford also said that the heart-rate monitoring seat of the car is still a research project and is in its very early stage of development and hence didn’t said when the seat is expected to enter the market as a production car.




The heart-rate monitoring seat puts Ford in the front position of automotive wellness and health initiatives, beating all its rivals by a huge margin. In their video on YouTube ford showcased how the seat works. Researchers said that there aren’t any electrodes attached to the body with the special seat. Rather it monitors the heart rate using 6 electrodes entrenched into the seatback, just like the technology which is being used in the beds in the intensive-care units. The researchers also said that a lot of electrodes were required; so that the seat can easily deal with “different body types.” The heart rate for any body can be detected using the clothing.