Many pedestrians and cyclists look at their phones while moving, so Ford filed a patent for a phone app that would warn them of a new danger: self-driving cars.
First seen on JalopnikBlue Oval filed a patent with the US Patent and Trademark Office in July 2022 for a phone app for “vulnerable road users” that would alert them to the presence of a autonomous vehicles and its intentions.
The term vulnerable road user generally refers to pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists.
The proposed application in the patent application includes an augmented reality overlay to communicate what the autonomous vehicle is doing.
Ford has provided several different sketch images depicting how the app will behave in different situations.
In one image, the phone is held up to eye level and it overlays through augmented reality that you can safely cross the street when the autonomous vehicle is stopped for you.
In another image, it shows a situation where the autonomous vehicle won’t stop for you to cross and has a large ‘X’ overlaid on the screen.
As is the case with many patents, this phone application is not guaranteed to be created but may inform future technologies.
There’s a reason Ford is patenting an app like Blue Oval to be a big investor in US-based autonomous vehicle startup Argo AIwith the Volkswagen Group.
The self-driving car company is currently testing its hardware on Ford Escape Lai, as well as a Volkswagen code. Buzz.
With an array of cameras, radars and LiDar sensors, Argo AI’s team can capture a 360-degree map of the vehicle’s surroundings, day or night.
Argo previously claimed its software can detect objects from more than 400 meters away, including pedestrians, cyclists and moving animals.
According to Argo AI CEO Brian Salesky, they are trying to create “the best driver in the world”.
Ford and the Volkswagen Group are not the only automakers investing in autonomous vehicle technology, with others including Mercedes-Benz, StellantisVolvo, Nio, BMW car, Honda’s motobikeand Synthetic engine.
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