Ford's Second-Annual Trend Conference
Ford Motor Company invited a group of journalists and bloggers to its Dearborn, Michigan headquarters for the Go Further with Ford Trend Conference 2012, which began June 26th and lasted three-days. Throughout the conference, Ford exposed us to upcoming trends, technologies, and its eco-conscious developments.
Everyone was shuttled out to Ford Field for the opening keynote and dinner. Bill Ford, executive chairman of Ford Motor Company, gave the keynote where he welcomed everyone and discussed key decisions that turned the company around without a need for any federal bail-out money.
The Next SYNC Upgrade
Ford gave us a sneak peek at new features in development for SYNC systems, including the new SYNC Communicator app.
SYNC Communicator takes the AppLink protocol beyond Pandora and other music apps to serve as the hub for messaging and social networking. The Ford demo showed a live chat going on via GoogleTalk with SYNC reading and dictating messages to send. However, Facebook, Facebook Messenger, Twitter, and texting should work as well.
The beauty of SYNC Communicator was that Ford demoed it running on first-generation SYNC hardware. That opens up the possibility of an update going back to model year 2008 vehicles.
Ford Leverages The Cloud
Ford showed off its SYNC Cloud Translator app, which uses SYNC to take advantage of your smartphones data connection to translate spoken foreign languages.
SYNC Cloud Translator uses SYNC to receive audio, which is uploaded to cloud-based servers powered by Nuance Speech Recognition, translated by Google Translator, converted via text-to-speech by Nuance, and then output through SYNC and your car's speakers.
In its current state, the solution is not usable in real-time; it suffers a horrendous amount of lag. We also had a hard time seeing how this would ever become useful in a car, even as a novelty.
AppLink For SYNC With MyFord Touch
Ford ran its SYNC demos on a TDK, which is the company's SYNC-in-a-box development platform.
The SYNC with MyFord Touch TDK had AppLink support, and worked with Pandora and iHeartRadio smartphone applications. We had a limited amount of time in front of the TDK, so we didn't get a chance to test AppLink, though other members of the press managed to use their iPhones perfectly fine.
Unfortunately, Ford hasn't yet set a release date for AppLink support on SYNC with MyFord Touch systems.
Measuring Driver Wellness Within The Car
Ford is researching a biometric car seat that monitors driver wellness in real-time. The system measures stress and heart rate levels using a series of steering wheel-mounted sensors. It also employs infrared for facial and ambient temperatures, conductive sensors for heart rate (similar to exercise equipment), and seat belt-mounted piezoelectric sensors for breathing rate.
The company believes this technology can help in-car safety equipment prepare for collisions, or even block incoming calls and texts when it detects a heightened stress level. Apparently, the technology is 5-10 years out from making it into a production vehicle, though.
Designing Interiors Virtually
Ford uses virtually-rendered vehicle interiors with a VR headset during its design stage. The system allows everyone involved to get a feel, virtual though it might be, of the interior layout.
Tweaking The Engine And Exhaust Notes, Digitally
Ford puts its EcoBoost turbocharged motors in everything from the Ford Focus to the F-150. While we can certainly appreciate the sound of a turbocharger spooling up, some folks don't like turbo whine and prefer a more traditional naturally-aspirated engine tone.
Thus, company engineers use a simulator that determines the sound of the engine, along with noise, vibration, and harshness inside the cabin, using select parameters (muffled, no turbo whine, wind noise, and so on). Engine acoustics are tweaked before they're applied to actual vehicles using a series of mufflers or additional deadening material.
Ford had its simulator running on an Alienware laptop (possibly an M17x) with a pair of Sennheiser HD650 headphones, in case you're curious.
It's Vincent Chase!
Adrian Grenier (Vincent Chase on the HBO hit Entourage) was one of the panelists for the Ford Eco-psychology trend session. Mr. Grenier is co-founder of the environmentalist website SHFT.com.
Ford Focus Electric
The Ford Focus Electric was always on display during the Go Further with Ford 2012 event. The Focus Electric exchanges an engine for electric motors and batteries without sacrificing its fun-to-drive factor. We had some seat time in the Focus Electric and found the car quite enjoyable. It was almost as eager around corners as the petrol-dependent Focus.
Batteries Have To Go Somewhere
The Ford Focus Electric's batteries are located in the hatch, sacrificing a lot of trunk space. The compromise isn't too bad, though, considering this car started its life with a 2.0 L inline-four engine.
Trip Planner For Those With Electric Range Anxiety
Ford offers a Trip Planner app to help owners of electric cars stay apprised of their remaining battery power. It also shows where nearby charging stations can be found, too.