Ford is developing a driver’s seat with an embedded heart-rate monitor, capable of picking up pulses through material and various layers of clothing.

Developed in conjunction with Ford’s European Research and Innovation Centre in Aachen, Germany and the Aachen University Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule (RWTH), the technology will be capable of constantly checking a driver’s heart activity.

Using six sensors that are placed at varying heights to suit different drivers, the monitor could potentially find abnormalities related to heart conditions, or provide an early warning sign if the driver is about to have a heart attack. Ford European Research and Innovation Centre medical officer, Dr Achim Lindner, recently spoke about the technology:

“Although currently still a research project, the heart rate monitor technology developed by Ford and RWTH Aachen University could prove to be a hugely important breakthrough for Ford drivers, and not just in terms of the ability to monitor the hearts of those known to be at risk. As always in medicine, the earlier a condition is detected the easier it is to treat and this technology even has the potential to be instrumental in diagnosing conditions drivers were previously unaware they had.”

The new seat is the latest in a range of in-car health technologies being developed by Ford. Last week, the company announced it was developing an in-car blood sugar level monitor for diabetic motorists. The system uses a continuous glucose monitor to relay levels onto the car’s infotainment screen. Ford says this heart-rate monitoring technology will be most useful for motorists with known heart conditions and elderly drivers.

As the saying goes, “safety first”, but we can’t wait for the application of this technology in other areas. Imagine a car’s sport mode being activated in relation to your heart rate, or the Internet radio in your car switching to a faster or slower beat accordingly. As technology progresses, expect to see more biometric-type technology in your car – Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen already have eye monitoring technology to detect drowsiness. Maybe there was more to The Jetsons than we thought!

Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., has announced it will license its ‘Scratch Shield’ paint to NTT DoCoMo, Inc. for mobile phone application in Japan. The self-healing paint, currently applied to certain Nissan and Infiniti vehicles worldwide, was developed in collaboration with University of Tokyo and Advanced Softmaterials Inc.

The Scratch Shield, a world first in paint technology, was commercially introduced in December 2005. The Scratch Shield paint self-heals fine scratches and is capable of restoring the vehicles’s paint surfaces overnight, or up to a week’s time in more severe cases. The Scratch Shield paint is also more scratch-resistant than conventional paint, therefore contributing to a more durable and long-lasting paint coat.

The self-repairing quality is due to a high-elasticity resin in the paint. Nissan says a car painted with Scratch Shield will have five times less number of scratches compared with a vehicle painted with a conventional clearcoat. The amount of time required for self-repair depends on the surrounding temperature and the depth of the scratch. The paint does not self-repair if scratches are deep enough to sever the bonds within the clearcoat or if the clearcoat has been peeled off.

However, the unique self-heal quality of the paint has attracted the interest of NTT DoCoMo, Inc., who say the technology is ideal for mobile phone application, which is susceptible to scratches over daily use. NTT DoCoMo, Inc. will license the Scratch Shield technology for its mobile phones to be introduced in Japan, which will be a value-add feature for customers.

Nissan has been licensing its unique technologies for various non-automotive applications since 2004. Other technologies that have been licenced include the around-view monitor and far infrared image sensor. Nissan will continue to research and develop breakthrough tehcnologies that can benefit other industries, and promote these non-automotive applications globally.

Source: Nissan