I want a shower in my car

They are smart cookies at Ford.

I was reading about a new car seat they have invented that uses electrode-sensing technology to monitor the driver’s heart rate. The high tech seat was developed jointly between Ford and Rheinisch-Westfalische Technische Hochschule (RWTH) Aachen University.

I was pretty impressed with Ford’s new seat before I Googled this mouthful of a University but I hold it in even higher esteem since I learned that one out of every five board members at German corporations is an alumnus of RWTH Aachen. With that kind of pedigree we must be talking one uber smart chair.

Hailing as it does from RWTH Aachen, it will come as no surprise that the seat has the potential to diagnose conditions drivers were previously unaware they had. It could also warn you of an imminent heart attack allowing you to stop the car while the on-board telephony alerts the emergency services. Pretty nifty stuff and you know what, the technology is not even the really smart bit.

I’ll grant the techie bit is impressive but the bit I like is the total focus on keeping the paying customer alive. If I have a heart attack while driving the chances are if the former doesn’t get me the crash will. If Ford keep this thinking going then the next best thing to visiting a Doctor will be going for a drive around the block.

I mean, just think about what else the boffins must be working on. A gear stick that takes a blood sample to test your cholesterol level and broadcasts it to your favourite greasy spoon; the juice maker that is built into the dashboard to deliver one of your five a-day and my favourite, the auto pilot that would enable me to use the in-car exercise bike followed by the in-car shower.

As I know only too well from Blackcircles.com, some of the best ideas come from customers. So now is our chance to give Ford some ideas for in-car tech.


All the best,

Mike