Ford axes in-car heart attack monitors: Car giant abandons plans for system that would track drivers to 'look at different avenues' 

  • System was part of attempts to keep up with rivals Google and Apple
  • Ford said it was looking at different 'health monitoring' avenues instead
  • Company would not disclose how much of its £3.6billion budget it spent 

By Daily Mail Reporter

Published: | Updated:

A project to develop car seats to detect if a driver is having a heart attack has been abandoned by Ford.

The car giant’s hi-tech research was part of attempts to keep up with rivals such as Google, which is developing an electric car, and Apple, also said to be keen to enter the market.

Ford was working on the seat which could monitor a driver with a camera and sensors on the steering wheel. 

A project to develop car seats to detect if a driver is having a heart attack (research model above) has been abandoned by Ford

A project to develop car seats to detect if a driver is having a heart attack (research model above) has been abandoned by Ford

If it spotted signs of a heart attack, it would use the steering and braking systems to stop the vehicle safely.

But the company told the Financial Times it was ‘looking at different avenues in health monitoring’ after spending an undisclosed sum from its £3.6billion annual research budget. 

Ford stressed that the project was only at the research phase and that there were no fixed plans to put the technology into production. 

It added: ‘We need to be smart and move at the pace of technology.’ 

Ford stressed that the project was only at the research phase and that there were no fixed plans to put the technology into production

Ford stressed that the project was only at the research phase and that there were no fixed plans to put the technology into production

Car makers believe they have to innovate as the value of vehicles in the future will be in electronic technology and software linking all their functions.  

Thilo Koslowski, automotive practice leader at Gartner, a technology consultancy, told the FT: 'Automotive companies are clearly still figuring out their role in a consumer electronics-dominated world.'

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