Speaking at an important forum on Driver Distraction held in Dublin last week, Dr Pim van der Jagt also said audible output was the preferred way of outputting connectivity information to drivers.
Dr van der Jagt detailed current and coming advances in car-to-car and car-to-infrastructure communication, which offer benefits in safety, traffic management and fuel economy.He told how Ford has developed, in association with Microsoft, its SYNC platform for connectivity which can be constantly updated during the life of a car to take account of the fast pace of electronics development.
Ford has, he said, provided more than 2,500 open software interface and developer kits which allow third-party development of apps for the AppLink feature of SYNC shortly coming to Europe. The apps are made available to SYNC subscribers after rigorous checking by Ford that they can be used in a safe way, with minimal display information and always controlled by voice. Certain types of apps, such as games, aren't allowed into the system.
Apps are already available to US customers through SYNC, which has an installed user base of 6m worldwide and some 65 apps already available through the Ford App Store. They include the Spotify music streaming service and a news service from USA Today which is delivered audibly. One of them is a First Date app which provides to the owner tips on restaurants, movies, and florists in the area so they can make the best impression with a new date.
Similar apps tailored to European needs will first appear in the upcoming EcoSport small SUV and the Fiesta by the end of this year.
The event was organised by the Irish Motoring Writers Association in association with Continental Ireland, and was also addressed by Dr Natasha Serat from the Institute for Transport Studies at the University of Leeds.
She outlined the Institute's investigations of the interaction of road users with new technology, ranging from developments in road construction through to driver fatigue and distraction from devices within cars.
(This is one of a series of stories we are running based on the 2013 IMWA/Continental Forum.)
