According to Wired, Ford received a patent this month for an βautonomous vehicle entertainment system.β Combining a ceiling-mounted projector with a roll down projection screen right in front of the windshield, this technology could put the βmuteβ back in commute. As inβ¦ the mute button. Remote jokes.
Wired describes this development for driverless cars as less about high tech and more Ford βplanning for a world in which life in the car will have fundamentally changed.β Ford wants to be at the helm of this driverless ship and has made public its intent to have a self driving car ready to bring to market within five years. According to Forbes, the patent depicts the first display as a projection screen in the front of the car, covering the windshield. When the driver takes over, the screen and projector retract into the ceiling and the presentation shifts to a display integrated within βa dashboard, an instrument cluster, or a rearview mirror.
But no need to scramble to add Knight Rider to your Netflix queue just yet. Ford has apparently demurred about the video screen, with a spokesperson telling Forbes that patent applications are intended to protect new ideas but arenβt necessarily an indication of new business or product plans. So either Ford will make you a car projection screen, or no one will.
Iβm Anna Wells, and this is IEN Now.
