Just when you thought that electronically controlled chairs with a built-in massager and memory seat functions are the epitome of vehicle chair technology, Ford comes around to surprise us all with their ECG Seat – it is a unique driver’s seat that is smart enough to monitor the occupant’s heart function thanks to half a dozen embedded sensors located on the backrest which is capable of detecting “electrical impulses generated by the heart” without having to come into contact with the skin. The Ford European Research and Innovation Center in Aachen, Germany, was where this technology was developed in tandem with researchers from the RWTH Aachen University.
Ford hopes to send data collected to remote medical services, while empowering it to be capable of alerting such medical services of imminent cardiovascular issues such as a heart attack. Since early detection is always the best form of treatment especially with issues like a heart attack, having something like this in your Ford car could be a unique selling point, especially for the elderly and groups that are more prone to suffer from a heart attack.
There is still a long way ahead for Ford’s heart-monitoring system though, although in its stationary testing, 90% to 95% of testers were “compatible” with its system, while on-the-road testing proved to be highly accurate, hitting the 98% mark as the driver goes around on all four wheels. [Press Release]
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